


Her Name Is Carrie White: Book One

by PagesInTheLibrary



Series: The Story of Carrie White [1]
Category: Carrie - All Media Types, Marvel (Comics), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Crossover, Curses, F/M, Families of Choice, Mental Health Issues, Past Child Abuse, Psychological Trauma, Self-Acceptance, Self-Discovery, Self-Esteem Issues, Self-Hatred, X-Men References
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-30
Updated: 2020-12-05
Packaged: 2021-03-09 01:00:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 12
Words: 26,810
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27276085
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PagesInTheLibrary/pseuds/PagesInTheLibrary
Summary: Carrie White is stopped from committing the Black Prom Massacre by undercover SHIELD agents sent to her school, and is taken into the organization's care as Director Fury believes she has what it takes to be an Avenger. Traumatized, wallowing in self-hate, and simply done with her hometown and her mother, Carrie accepts for the chance at restarting her life and finding some measure of happiness.
Series: The Story of Carrie White [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1991548
Comments: 14
Kudos: 16





	1. Intro: Close Call

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Unlikely Heroine](https://archiveofourown.org/works/14453226) by [iamgoku](https://archiveofourown.org/users/iamgoku/pseuds/iamgoku). 



> Hello everyone! I hope you enjoy this Carrie/Avengers crossover. This one is just a short intro but I have a couple of chapters written and will post the next one soon. Feel free to comment! Hope you enjoy!

Carrie didn’t understand why being alive had to hurt so much. She didn’t understand why the cost of a small kindness such as basic respect seemed to be too high for most of the people in her school to pay. She didn’t understand why this was all happening to her, and why Tommy had paid for his kindness with his life.

Why?

Mama had told her over and over again that this was the result of being born of sin – that it was God’s will they never ever forget that night and her father’s loss of control. Carrie was sorry for what happened to her mama, and she was sorry that despite everything her mother could never seem to find real happiness, like those brief moments when she sat back to listen to gospel or maybe get some ironing done at the same time. Those small moments. . . why did they only have to be moments?

Why?

Could this be punishment for her traitorous thoughts? She remembered overhearing a student mention that karma included bad thoughts. Was all of this retribution for daring to think her mother was wrong? For her secret resentment at being held responsible for something she couldn’t control? For following Ms. Desjardin’s advice and trying to be happy, ignoring the voice in her head that warned doing so was a horrible idea that would end badly?

Carrie. . . Carrie didn’t know anymore.

No, that wasn’t true – she did know something.

This was all because of Chris, like it always was when she got hurt.

She was covered in sticky blood and humiliated because of Chris, Tommy was dead because of Chris, and this night was completely ruined because OF CHRIS!

**AND EVERYONE WAS LAUGHING!**

**HER NIGHT WAS RUINED – THIS ONE NIGHT OF HAPPINESS** (she hadn’t asked or _hoped_ for anything else) **AND THEY WERE LAUGHING! TOMMY WAS DEAD** (she **_knew_** he only asked her because of Sue. Carrie wasn’t stupid, wasn’t that naïve, but they were **_trying_** to be nice and she wanted to so badly to have friends. When prom was over, they could have picked up Sue and all gone out together to get that hamburger and soda. They **_could_** have been **_friends_ _!_** ) **AND THEY WERE LAUGHING!!!**

No more. NO MORE! **NOMORENOMORENOMORENOMORENOMORE!!!!!!!!!**

They would all pay. All of them.

Carrie reached for the Power and it _flexed_ , she smiled savagely as the doors closed on the students, and the gym’s lights flickered. They weren’t laughing anymore as the few open window slammed shut with chilling finality. She could feel her heartbeat in her ears and took a moment to pick out her first targets, the ones who would get the worst punishments. Chris’ lackeys. They had to have known about her plan. There was no way they didn’t.

Tina. She could see Tina right there, shoving another girl out of the way to desperately bang on the gym doors. Carrie sneered and _pulled_ – the girl Tina had pushed was tossed to the side before she could be trampled and Tina was sent flying backward, painfully. The bully landed at the foot of the stage.

Carrie coolly considered the punishment – she was thinking of setting Tina on fire but being trampled to death now had an attractive irony to it. . .

“CARRIE! PLEASE CARRIE STOP!” It was Ms. Desjardin’s – horrified, desperate and guilt ridden - voice. The older woman was running up to the stage, clearly terrified but still approaching anyway.

Carrie wanted to ignore her, but she might get in the way. . . hmm, she could open a window and toss her outside. She could toss the people helping Tommy out after the coach now that she thought about. Perhaps it would be better to get them out of the way before she dealt with Tina and the others. . .

There was a hiss and a whoosh and suddenly everything was foggy. Carrie blinked and started to cough harshly – the air was thick, and edges of her vision was dark. What was. . .

“STAY DOWN! EVERYONE STAY DOWN!”

Carrie’s last, sluggish, thought was that she didn’t recognize the voice.


	2. Damage Control

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Be warned! There is some cursing, but nothing too bad. Please enjoy.

It was one of those days. The one when Nick Fury knew he was simply getting too old to deal with all this shit. He read the report with growing disgust at how the disaster his agents narrowly averted could have been nipped in the bud entirely if someone had detected the Carrie White kid before everything went to hell. Fuck it, this could have been stopped if the school did its fucking job and got White the help she needed. Their incompetence and negligence could have resulted in a massacre that might have extended beyond the school. He was going to have to launch an investigation into how Carrie White slipped between the cracks pronto because another slipup like this could not stand. They might not get lucky next time and needed to learn from this near fuck-up.

The assholes that finally pushed White too far were Chris Hangersen and her boyfriend William “Billy” Nolan, textbook sociopaths. The former would’ve been in prison years ago if her daddy hadn’t used his influence to get her off the hook and had gone out of her way to torment Carrie White for years. The latter also had a record, but not as blatantly violent – whether it was because of circumstances or restraint on the kid’s part, Nick didn’t know yet. That said, he had an agent digging up any incidents that may not have gone into official reports. He would be surprised if they didn’t find anything.

There was only one death at the prom, Tommy Ross, and by all accounts it was a reckless accident on Hangersen and Nolan’s parts. The bucket they used to carry the pig blood fell and the kid was just unlucky enough to be standing right in its path _and_ get hit in just the right way to break his neck. Hangersen’s father wouldn’t be able to get her out of this – and Nolan was undoubtedly fucked too.

Aside from Ross there were only injuries, ranging from bruises to some broken bones. While some of it had been caused by White’s initial snap when she used her powers to shove everyone back, a significant portion was simply collateral from the rush of desperate students attempting to escape her wrath. All those facts combined with her hellish childhood meant it was a relatively simple task to get Carrie White off the hook with legal charges, as long as SHIELD took responsibility for teaching her control. It certainly helped that most of the students at the prom were jackasses of the highest order who relentlessly bullied White and contributed to the abuse, though none of them save Hangersen held a candle to her deranged mother.

Margaret White was now in a psychiatric hospital getting the help she needed and more importantly, _very_ far away from her daughter. SHIELD also used its connections to push for a legal investigation into the school and ensure there would be many reforms and punishments to correct the behavior that almost let to a massacre. After all, Chamberlain was one of those small towns were some families tended be related, however distantly. It wouldn’t do for another child with White’s abilities to go through that same hell. He could arrange for semi-retired agents to run surveillance on the town until something more permanent was established. That only left Carrie White herself.

She was sedated for now, with the best doctors SHIELD could offer overlooking her condition. The latest report explained they were waiting for her brainwaves to go back to normal before bringing her back. It was still dangerously agitated, and they didn’t want to risk her still being in a rage when she woke up. They would definitely need a psychiatrist lined up. All in all, this wasn’t as horrible as it could have been. It was fortunate ex-agent Dockson decided to retire in his hometown. Fury didn’t like to think about how this would have turned out otherwise.

Carrie White would likely not be psychologically ready for the front line any time soon, but her power was still invaluable as support. It was important for the future of the Avenger’s Initiative that she recover from the incident. If not the current generation he had lined up, there was always the next one White could join. He would need to wait until she woke up to put proper contingencies in place though, in the event of worst case scenarios. The kid would also need a handler/guardian to see to her well-being and foster trust in SHIELD. 

Fury had just the person in mind.

* * *

When Carrie woke up, she thought she was dead. That was dashed when she opened her eyes and the bright flare of the lighting overhead blinded her. She winced and heard some shuffling.

“Sorry kid. Give me a sec.”

The light dimmed and Carrie blinked the spots out of her eyes. There was movement and a woman appeared, looking down at her. The stranger was a bit younger than Mama, brown hair bundled back, dark eyes serious but not unkind. “Take it easy. Give yourself a minute, you were hit with some pretty strong stuff, kid.”

Since her head still felt sluggish, Carrie listened. She reached out to feel around her, to get a sense of whoever was nearby as she tried to collect her thoughts. _Concern. Caution. Pity._ What? Why would they feel. . .?

It all came back.

The _ **prom**_.

Tommy was dead and she lost it and... and... She _ **lost**_ it. What happened after everything went red? Did she hurt people? Was Ms. Desjardin okay?

“Ms. White!”

She was evil. A monster. Carrie thought back to all those revenge fantasies she had about the girls who tormented her. Had she acted on them? _Would be so bad if you did?_ A voice in the back of her mind whispered. _They’re the ones who pushed you until you bro –_

Carrie screamed out loud, refusing to listen. _Nonononononono_ –

“Ms. White! Carrie! You need to calm down, you’re safe!” The woman again. Carrie could hear a lot of footsteps, muttering, and doors swishing open.

“WHO DID I KILL?!” Carrie demanded. “WHAT DID I DO?!"

The woman looked briefly surprised. “No one! You didn’t kill anyone!”

“ **DON’T _LIE_ TO ME!**” She screamed. The fogginess was gone now, the fear and self-hate and **_guilt_** burning it away.

Lights flickered on and off, everything around them was trembling.

“Frank, get the tablet!” The woman snapped. She turned to Carrie again. “I can prove I’m telling the truth! My name is Julie Anders, you’re in our infirmary and we brought you here from the high school. We had coworkers there, watching you. They stopped you before you could kill anyone!”

The lights stopped flickering, but the tables and everything not nailed down still notably trembled.

“Why?” Carrie was tense. They had been watching her? How much did they know about her life?

“We had a contact in that town who alerted us about you.” Ms. Anders still hadn’t lost her composure and calmly continued to explain as a man with light brown skin and hair handed her something black and rectangular. Carrie vaguely recognized it.

“Agents infiltrated the school to surveillance you. To be blunt, we were already in the process of a plan to extract you when the prom. . . sped up the timetable.” Ms. Anders had been tapping on the rectangle block, which was glowing on the side facing away from Carrie. The could-have-been prom queen realized she had seen it before – a couple of her classmates used it during their free periods, though it wasn’t always black and came in different sizes. Ms. Anders had called it a tablet. Carrie cautiously accepted the tablet when Ms. Anders handed it to her, and in amazement, realized there was a newspaper from her hometown behind that glass.

She poked it experimentally and the picture of chaos outside the school vanished past the top of the screen. She swallowed and read the title underneath.

**Girl Pushed Too Far!**

**Chamberlain is under fire as more of the horrific abuse, Carrietta N. White suffered is brought to light. White was dumped with pig's blood shortly after being voted Prom Queen -**

She read, and to her disbelief, realized these people were telling the _truth_. Tommy was the only death that night and while a lot of people were hurt, it wasn’t anything life threatening. Wait – Chris was being arrested?!

“Chris is in jail?” Carrie whispered.

“She’s being held without bail, and so is her boyfriend.” Ms. Anders explained. “They’ve been deemed flight risks.” When Carrie still looked confused, she clarified. “The judge decided they’ll run away instead of attending their trial, so he won’t let them outside.”

Oh. Well, that was something Chris would do.

She read on – there were several charges like manslaughter, physical assault and many, many others. Chris wasn’t just being punished for prom night, all of the people who she bullied were launching their cases against her too. Carrie frowned, was Chris actually being punished for what she did? Mr. Hangersen couldn’t get her out? It was so bizarre – Chris always got away with hurting people.

“Ms. White?” Carrie looked up. It was the man with light brown hair and skin, his eyes were dark, and she realized the man was a head shorter than Ms. Anders. “Are you feeling better?”

“I... I don’t know.” She whispered. Did it matter if she didn’t hurt anyone and was relieved over it? Carrie would have killed people without remorse if those agents hadn’t been there, didn’t that make her a monster? What would Mama say. . .

Mama.

“Where’s Mama?” Carrie trembled. Her mother would kill her for this, and even if she deserved it -

“Where she belongs.” The man said curtly. “Your mom has a lot of mental problems kid. Mrs. White has been sent to a place that will try to help her and keep her from hurting others.”

Carrie faltered. “B-but what about me? Dad died; I only have Mama.”

“Someone is on their way right now to speak with you about that and answer any questions you have.” The man – no Frank, that was what Ms. Anders had called him, Carrie remembered – explained.

In one night, her world was spun upside down, had everything jangled around, and dumped unceremoniously at her feet with the pieces of its shell following suit. Carrie was only sixteen, she barely knew the people who seemed to remotely care about her and never left her hometown. There was. . . no one and nothing familiar. She was alone.

Mr. Frank put a hand on her shoulder as she broke down and cried.


	3. Moving On

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Carrie meets Fury and Hill, quickly gets a grasp on her situation, and agrees to join SHIELD. This will also be the first of many chapters where people underestimate just how much Carrie understands what's happening. She is quite perceptive.

Nicholas Fury, the director of SHIELD and his second Maria Hill were simultaneously intimidating and... well not exactly kind, but not cruel either. They calmly laid down the facts in front of her of the most likely scenarios that would happen depending on the choice she made. Neither adult sugarcoated anything nor pulled any of their words. It was nothing but the brutal truth Carrie needed to hear.

They reminded her of Ms. Desjardin.

Carrie couldn’t go back to her hometown – even though the school was forced to publicly acknowledge that her. . . snap. . . was the result of one final cruel prank after years and years of abuse people were still scared of her. Especially the families of her classmates because Carrie did have legitimate reasons to hate a lot of them. There were also enough people in town and in the public, who sided with her that those kids were getting harassed and verbally abused online. It could get worse if Carrie went back and decided to encourage it.

She wouldn’t, but the families didn’t have any reason to believe that. The papers said that Tina hadn’t left her house since her release from the hospital two weeks ago. Her parents had made a statement that they wouldn’t let Tina’s behavior go unchecked but didn’t want to take any action while she was recovering and begged to be left alone.

Apparently, Carrie had thrown Tina hard enough that some ribs were cracked, and her back covered in bruises. There was very little sympathy for the bully – many were calling Tina a monster instead of Carrie herself. The telepath didn’t know how to even begin to process that and chose not to.

There was also the fact that Carrie realized she didn’t want to return. She had no true happy memories or attachment to the town, the only thing making her hesitate was how worried Ms. Desjardin and Sue must be. That could easily be solved with a letter or email – one of the agents could teach her – and Carrie really didn’t feel like going out of her way to return to Chamberlain just to make them feel better. Perhaps it was a bit selfish but. . . that was how she felt. 

Everyone in SHIELD was a lot nicer to her, if distant, and she couldn’t feel any disgust that she knew she would find in Chamberlain. True, they were not friends or anything, but their kindness was real. Carrie found she much preferred that as unsettling as not needing to look over her shoulder for the next humiliation was.

The foster system was out of the question too, as far as the ~~super?~~ spies were concerned. ~~Mr.~~ Director Fury and ~~Ms.~~ Deputy Hill made it abundantly clear that Carrie would never truly be safe again. Her power was just too tempting for many very bad people who would put her mother’s treatment of her to shame. There was also the fact that Carrie was, in their own words, “soft with zero backbone” and likely remain a social outcast. The risk of another snap from being bullied again was significant in that kind of environment too.

Carrie had to admit that they were probably right in saying that some people just couldn’t stop themselves from being cruel even if it was in their best interest. Chris had been one of them -even though her father got her off the hook with legal charges in the past, the bullying still damaged her reputation and left her with no real friends. It also increased the amount of people who had a grudge on her, and now that they smelled blood in the water, they were taking the chance to get back at both Hangersens at their weakest. The teen knew that with her luck, she would run into people like Chris and her dad.

So that left. . . SHIELD itself, and Carrie couldn’t help but be interested as they explained their offer. There was a superhero team they were building that they wanted her to join. Carrie was shocked that they would even consider her after what almost happened at prom, but their response left her unable to say anything.

“Don’t give us that kid,” Director Fury said flatly. He was an older black man getting on in years, a touch of grey in his beard – there was none on his head because he was bald. “You were treated like shit all your life by everyone until the week before your prom. When you found out you had powers you didn’t go after the bullies – you just stood up for yourself against your mom. And yes, you would have killed your classmates if my people hadn’t been there – but that was after that Hangersen bitch extraordinaire dumped pig’s blood on you for daring to be happy. When you woke up, you lost your shit when you thought you killed someone. You have what it takes to be a hero with the right help so don’t tell me otherwise.”

It was the nicest thing anyone had said to her and Carrie didn’t know what else to do but nod mutely. Profanity aside. . . the compliment made her feel good and warm inside. ~~Yes, they wanted her power on their side, Carrie wasn’t naïve. He meant what he said at least a little bit though and that was something.~~

Deputy Hill nodded. “You are not evil Ms. White, you just got pushed too far and it isn’t a failing that you snapped. Everyone has limits and is capable of being pushed past their breaking point. That’s why it’s important to have people to support you – and everyone in Chamberlain failed to do so.”

“Sue and Ms. Desjardin, they –, “Carrie protested. They _had_ helped her.

“They helped too late.” Deputy Hill said bluntly, reading the teenager like a book. “And it doesn’t make up for what they did and didn’t do in the past.”

The rest of the conversation wasn’t as uncomfortably honest. Director Fury wanted her to see a psychiatrist to help her get over her life in Chamberlain. She would also be a support member of the Avengers until cleared by the psychiatrist and sufficiently trained to take part in combat more directly.

It all sounded reasonable to Carrie – and she really didn’t want to take any chances with people outside of SHIELD and lose control again. There wasn’t any real judgement here, even though by all rights they should be wary of her and want to keep their distance. Everyone was so. . . nonchalant about it, like it wasn’t that big of a deal.

She tried not to think about what would count as a big deal to them.

In the end, Carrie accepted their offer. What else could she do?

The month that followed was strange, very strange. Carrie had a lot to catch up on about the world and school, the relentless bullying had hurt her studies a lot. An agent named Phil Coulson was her handler/caretaker, in charge of making sure she learned what she was supposed to and attended her therapy sessions. Mr. Kurt, the psychiatrist, was very nice man and very polite who always treated what Carrie had to say as important.

So naturally she was on edge. The teenager was not use to all this kindness and non-malicious indifference – it felt like she was long overdue for a slap of harsh reality. There had to be someone in this building that hated her or thought she was pathetic.

Carrie had told Mr. Kurt as much and felt better when he admitted there were agents who were wary of her, but they didn’t _hate_ her. SHIELD had seen too many impossible, world-ending near tragedies for Carrie’s almost-massacre spree to be anything exceptionally horrible. Yes, she was a potential threat but the same could be said for _many_ SHIELD agents, even those without powers and there were contingencies in place for such people if they became bad investments.

The lack of actual hate still made Carrie nervous, but she was able to handle the minimal negativity better. SHIELD had things in place to deal with her. It was like living with Mama a bit, except SHIELD was more predicable and not actively waiting for Carrie to screw up – it was just in case. They had a bit more faith in her to behave and as long as she followed the rules, she was fine. Thinking that way helped Carrie stay calm.

Then, Phil brought her to the Joint Dark Energy Mission Faculty in the Mojave Desert. SHIELD was studying something called the Tesseract, also called the Cube, to create a source of clean and renewable energy. He would be stationed there for a while and since she was his responsibility, Carrie came along. Mr. Kurt would continue their sessions remotely until physical visits could be arranged again.

Even before the helicopter landed, Carrie could detect an odd alien-like presence that was unlike anything she ever felt before. She cautiously reached out and almost flinched when the Presence curiously prodded at her own mind.

Phil still noticed. He did that quirk with his eyebrow, the question that was only half a question because he knew something was off, just not what, so only the second one needed an answer.

Carrie intertwined her fingers. “There’s something in there. It’s not. . . it’s not human is it?”

Her handler went still for the briefest of moments, but she had spent the last month beside him and knew his body language pretty well.

“No, it isn’t.” He admitted. The helicopter landed and they stepped down. “We knew it was possible you’d sense it. Don’t initiate further contact until I talk to Selvig about the Tesseract. “

“Um, I’m not sure if I should.” Carrie replied nervously. “The. . .Tesseract is curious. I don’t know how it’ll react if I try to ignore it.”

They were still walking and had gotten inside the facility by now. Phil didn’t say anything for a moment.

“How does it feel?”

“Huh, very. . . polite, I think? It’s just nudging my mind, poking a bit.” She pulled at the sleeve of her gray cardigan. “It’s not actually inside my head. It’s more like it’s knocking on the door, trying to get me to look out the window.”

It wasn’t a bad feeling to be honest. There was no malice or indifference or the feeling she would be crushed. The Tesseract felt incomprehensible for the most a part, an ocean whose depths was a complete mystery. Carrie was only at the border, where the incoming tide gently hit her ankles. She wasn’t being dragged into something she didn’t know she could find her way back from.

Most importantly, it really was just politely curious. Carrie was cautious, mostly because she knew Phil would want her to be but felt no danger from the mental contact.

Should she try to say hello?

“Keep contact to a minimum then,” Phil said, dashing her hopes. “I need to talk to Selvig before I can let you in the lab.”

So that was how Carrie found herself inside a small room that only contained a bed, a dresser, a desk, and a closet. She put her suitcase on the chair that came with the desk and sat on her bed – there was another door that probably let to the bathroom, but the teen didn’t feel like investigating.

The Tesseract was still prodding.

Half an hour later, Phil returned, and he brought her to the room the Tesseract was in.

Erik Selvig, the one leading the investigation, was pleased to meet her. Carrie made sure to be polite but couldn’t shake the off feeling she got when he spoke. She could tell he meant everything he said, but when he spoke, a lot of the time it felt. . . double layered.

“The energy from the Tesseract spiked forty minutes ago,” Mr. Selvig told her as they approached the machine the scientist was using to hold and study it. “That was when you arrived. It’s well within acceptable parameters so I’d like you to make contact again so we can study the results.”

Carrie nodded nervously. “Do I have to touch it?”

Selvig paused. “You can make mental contact without it, yes?”

She nodded.

“Then don’t. I rather study this more before we think about physical contact.”

After an encouraging nod from Phil, Carrie kneeled next to the Tesseract’s stand and sent out an ‘hello’.

Thirty seconds passed and she felt every one of them as the stone absorbed the words and seemed to process them. When it sent a response back, it was more of a feeling than words, but she heard the meaning all the same.

“Hello, to you.”


	4. Uninvited Guest

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Loki's arrival goes a bit differently than he planned.

The following week passed by quickly.

Contrary to what Selvig said earlier, further study showed the Tesseract pulsed instead of spiked as they spoke. It was a soft, understated thing, gentle and never once reached levels the scientists felt they should worry about.

The Tesseract responded quicker to emotions and images instead of words, so Carrie altered her approach accordingly. She tried to keep to the past month of memories, worried how the negative emotions associated with her life in Chamberlain would affect it. She failed miserably, as the Cube was incredibly curious and quickly nudged, poked, and tugged at her mind to show it more when it realized she was holding back. The girl wasn't sure why such a powerful. . . _being_. . . didn't just slip into her head but some instinct told her that it lacked the capabilities. While the Cube possessed the power to get inside her head, it didn't possess the _knowing_. The mind wasn't its purpose. Carrie didn't completely understand why she got that feeling but she did and it felt right. This connection was maintain from her end, that much she was sure of. 

Even though the mind wasn't it forte, it could still tell she was keeping knowledge from it and the Tesseract was very insistent.

She relented.

It spiked, brushing just the edges of the parameters set and Carrie felt her head spin as her entire life passed in a blurred, smeared, flash of images. Everything was swallowed by an inky darkness and suddenly she was in space, floating above planets and saw a star going supernova and it lit up her whole world.

She was surrounded by stars, was _one_ of those stars. A power that fed itself and only grew and shone brighter. Infinite and forever, an endless loop that fell into itself –

When she became aware of herself again, she was in the infirmary.

They ended communications early that day. Carrie could barely stand up on her own, the psychic whiplash messing with her balance and stayed in the infirmary. She laid in her bed, her mind going to that star over and over again. It made her feel so small, but not in a bad way. It felt like a reminder that the world was so, _so_ much bigger than Chamberlain and had a lot more to offer her than the scraps the town threw her. While Carrie never wanted to forget what she almost did, she wanted to leave behind the pain and humiliation that led to that scenario. It needed to be buried.

* * *

The next day it was much later than she usually started, but the doctors wanted to be sure she was stable before releasing her.

This time, the Cube didn’t stuff the image in her head, it guided her along the path slowly. Carrie saw different planets and different species coming into being, living, dying and being replaced. There were so many stories. If she dared to think so, the teenager could have sworn that the Tesseract had been bored for a while and was pleased to have something to keep it busy. At the very least, she was a novelty.

Mr. Selvig and his team were ecstatic with the data. They explained that they hoped to analyze how the energy was renewing itself so they could replicate the results. Carrie also took to writing in a notebook about what the Cube showed her, which pleased Phil. Odds were he would have to tell Director Fury about her and the Tesseract – she wanted to make it easier for him and sort her experiences outside of her head.

On the sixth day, things took a turn for the worst.

Carrie actually hadn’t been in the Tesseract Room at the time. Selvig and his team wanted to study the effects of their conversations with the factor of distance added. The teen decided to go to a training room to practice her powers, specifically, floating. She found herself hovering a few feet above her bed sometimes, higher if she had a nightmare, and wanted to try doing it on purpose. Agent Jon, assigned to watch over her by Phil, was keeping a respectful distance as she practiced. In his hands was a tablet that he used to make notes of her progress.

The Cube proved to be a big help. Carrie often felt like she was floating whenever she was pulled into its visions and she used that sensation to help herself float. Behind her closed eyelids, she could see the vastness of space the Cube was projecting in her mind, along with the sensation of weightlessness.

She was starting to make progress!

Carrie was in the middle of turning in a circle, several feet in the air while staying perfectly straight, when the Tesseract’s energy spiked abruptly. The vision of space of was torn out of her grasp and she lost her psychic grip on herself.

Scrambling, Carrie mentally pushed herself from the ground before she could land face first and spun upright, landing harshly on her butt instead.

Ouch.

“White! What happened?” Agent Jon was running over.

“I need to see Mr. Selvig.” She muttered, wincing as she got up. “Something happened with the Cube.”

They took the elevator down and arrived in the Tesseract Room to see complete and utter chaos. Selvig and his scientists were running back and forth between computers yelling scientific terms Carrie only vaguely understood.

She was quickly spotted.

“Carrie! Come here!” Mr. Selvig called. He was standing at the computer where a blonde scientist named Fiona monitored the Tesseract’s energy levels. Her brow was furrowed in worry.

“What happened?” Carrie called, jogging over. “The Cube just pulled away from me. “

“Was hoping you could tell me.” Selvig sighed. “I step out for one minute everything goes to hell. We were just monitoring its levels and then, this.”

“This” was the Tesseract visibly shuttering

Carrie hugged herself and took a deep breath before prodding at the Cube, shutting her eyes tight. Its energy was churning, spinning in on itself and she could see flickers of stars and barren rock.

This wasn’t a vision though; it was like seeing through a scratched-up window. . .

No. Wait.

Carrie felt another presence that reminded her of the Tesseract, but it was different. It slid into her mind inquiringly with an ease and fluidness the Tesseract lacked, slipping through the cracks in her mind’s front door. She would have lashed out with everything she had if the Presence hadn’t gently done the mental equivalent of taking a hold of her arms. She took shuddering breaths as it examined her with the same curiosity as the Tesseract. This Presence was a lot more interested though and... fascinated? Unlike the Cube, it definitely knew its way around the mind.

After a moment she felt it make a decision and the scratched-up window cleared up, the fractures filled, the cluttering dust wiped away. The Presence and the Tesseract both allowed her to see what was on. . . the **_other_** side?

It was terrifying.

A pale man with dark hair dressed in gold and green, his scepter holding a glow at its tip that had to be the Presence, she knew it. He wasn’t alone.

Aliens she didn’t recognize surrounded him, most were the pale man's size but there was another in the distance, sitting on a giant throne to accommodate his size. Carrie could make out purple skin and dark armor, but the rest was hidden in shadows and gloom.

He was looking at her. Eyes as insane as her mother’s but so much more awful because her mother couldn’t fight back against her powers, but he could, and he’d crush Carrie and everyone in this room like they were noth –

She cried. Shut them out! Shut them out!

Carrie White reached out for both the Presence and the Tesseract’s power and _pulled_. It felt like she had slammed a door in the face those horrible eyes belonged to, and she was so glad.

“Carrie!” It was Mr. Selvig. She blinked blearily, coming back to herself. The teen was standing in front of the Cube, holding her hands out so that the energy curled against them, unable to escape between her fingers.

“What happened?” The scientist was at her side, and she could feel eyes on her, from a distance. Hawkeye had kept to himself during the week – so quiet she only realized he existed three days ago.

“Someone is doing this; someone is trying to get here.” She gasped, flinched as the energy tried to tear itself from her grip but she held on tight. The person doing this would get through eventually, but Carrie would stall them as long as she could. “You need to get everyone out of here!”

He put a hand on her shoulder and Carrie was hit by that feeling of wrongness again, that something wasn’t right. A sense of double. Thankfully, Phil walked in and Mr. Selvig turned to him. The horrible feeling went with him as he walked away.

The talk was brief – Carrie couldn’t allow herself to get too distracted or else whoever was on the other side would rip the power from her hands and tear the door open. She was barely aware of what was going on around her, the struggling portal took her entire being.

Who was trying to get in?

* * *

Director Fury stared at the teenage girl taken into SHIELD’s care a month prior. He and his deputy had arrived at the base two hours ago, marking six hours since the Tesseract starting “misbehaving” in Selvig’s words. The last of the nonessentials pulled out over an hour ago, leaving only Selvig, his team, their security detail, and Hawkeye besides Hill and himself.

White was tiring, he could see the girl twitching as she tried to hold on for even a second longer. Hawkeye had come down from his perch and was staring with a stoic expression, but Fury had known him for a very long time and could pick out the subtle betrayals of his unease.

It wasn’t a surprise. Clint “Hawkeye” Barton, birth name Clinton Francis Barton was a father of two and knew of White’s horrific childhood. Fury already had a medical team waiting for them in his helicopter. There was a valid concern about the stress her powers could put on her heart if taken too far.

The struggle between White and their uninvited guest was making the scanners go nuts. The people assigned were steadily ensuring the information was uploaded to SHIELD’s database so it wouldn’t be lost in any worst-case scenario.

Then Carrie White convulsed. Two of Selvig’s team, Fiona Hark and Jason Trey, who had been attending to the girl quickly grabbed her arms as she collapsed and carried her away.

They were out of time. Hill gave the signal and all of the security detailed raised the prototypes he ordered to be left behind for this. Fury had his doubts that this would be enough firepower, but the other weapons hadn’t done well ~~were disastrous~~ in testing. This would have to do.

“Her heartrate is steady sir!” Trey called out from the corner. White was coming around in Hark’s arms as the Tesseract convulsed before exploding with energy that gathered into a beam. It hit the platform and ceased, any lingering power rising up to the high ceiling where it twisted and curled on itself.

A man in green and gold, matching one of the descriptions White had provided, stood up from where the beam had hit. He held a gold scepter in one hand with a glowing tip that burned and sizzled. The newcomer didn’t look well, he was pale, sickly, with dark rings under his eyes and seemed downright displeased.

“That took longer than it should have.” He said tensely, his eyes scanned the room, ignoring most of them until they settled on Carrie White. The stranger regarded her with interest as the girl who looked almost as sickly as him weakly stared back.

“So, this is the one who delayed my arrival? This. . . woman-child?” The smile was politely fixed, Fury knew he was ready to take his frustration out on them. “I’m interested to learn how you were able to accomplish such a feat! It will certainly be a long conversation.”

Time to step in.

“A long conversation for sure, but one I’ll be having with you on why the hell you’re here. I will only ask once; put down the spear!” The director of SHIELD demanded.

The newcomer’s smile widened. “I think not.”

What followed next could only be described as a one-sided massacre. The new guy didn’t discriminate between the people shooting at him, and the ones hiding behind whatever they had. He easily redirected the energy blasts of the prototypes after the initial attack, tossing them at scientists or other members of security. Fury and Hawkeye ducked as Hill was pulled to the side by White, landing roughly near her. The girl did the same for the others when she could, saving two other scientists and one of their shooters but most of their people ended up dead.

Then the guy started to advance on White’s position, when Hawkeye intervened. The agent’s punch was caught easily, and the spear brought forward to touch his chest. Hawkeye’s eyes went completely black before returning to normal, save his pupils that was now an unsettling blue. Fury signaled to Hill, who frowned, but nodded and started escorting White and the surviving scientists out the door as Fury went for the Cube.

* * *

Carrie didn’t have it in her to protest when they left Director Fury and the others. She knew in her current state it was hard to focus enough to use her powers which was bad. Ms. Hawk and Mr. Trey needed to support her between them. It would be best to get out of the way.

Several cars had been left for them and they scrambled into one. Hill hit the gas and they tore through the underground tunnel. Barely minutes into their escape, Deputy Hill’s radio came to life and Director Fury’s voice was heard.

“They’re right behind you and have the Tesseract. Selvig is also compromised. I repeat, they –“

“Copy sir.” ~~Ms.~~ Deputy Hill said. “Get out of there now.”

The following car chase was terrifying as the man and his brainwashed ~~had to be they didn't _feel_ normal~~ help tried to make them crash. Deputy Hill gave as good as she got and caused one of the cars chasing them to flip. Carrie tried not to think about the man – the _brainwashed_ man – who was inside and hoped he lived.

The scientists were as terrified as she was but didn’t panic and stayed as out of the way as they could, crouched down and out of the line of fire.

Director Fury was waiting for them outside in his helicopter with one of the surviving agents and opened fire from their vantage point in the sky. Deputy Hill took the opportunity and make a break for it, turning sharply as the pale man retaliated.

In the end, the helicopter crashed, though Carrie was able to slow its descent and no one inside was seriously hurt. Their attacker escaped in the chaos of the base and the land it was built on collapsing in on itself as the energy from the Tesseract went critical.

Everyone tried to get their bearings, and Fury spoke through the speaker again. She felt her consciousness waver and only heard the end as everything went dark.

“As of this moment, we are at war.”


	5. The Genius Billionaire Playboy Philanthropist

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Carrie meets Tony. The genius billionaire playboy philanthropist then finds out how ignorant Carrie is of modern culture and resolves to correct this unforgivable error. Phil, meanwhile, stands in the background and smiles with satisfaction as a good plan plays out.

The medics Fury brought with him survived the crash and set their attention on Carrie. None of the others were seriously hurt, thankfully. The teenager was too exhausted to do more than nod yes or no to their questions as she drifted in and out of consciousness. When she finally went into a deep sleep, she woke up a few days later in the medical ward of SHIELD’s HQ.

Phil came to her room minutes after she woke up, a breakfast/lunch tray in hand. It was latter in the day, just past lunch.

Carrie listened attentively as he explained what the current situation was. She noted with relief that he didn’t have any injuries – Director Fury had assigned him to oversee the evac, so he’d been away from the fighting, but she had still worried. Phil was nothing but kind to her and insisted she call him by his first name when they first met, which took some getting used to. It was a good kind of different though. She knew that in grand scheme of things she was just an assignment and his kindness was laced with ulterior motives for SHIELD, but _still_. Carrie appreciated the kindness he extended to her.

“The doc days you’re vitals are stable so after you eat, get dress and come with me. I’m on my way to get one of the team members for our response team.”

She ate as quickly as she could – it was oatmeal with strawberries on top and a mug of that Oolong tea she had developed a taste for. Carrie made sure to finish it – Phil, by instruction of her doctors, was strict about making sure she ate three meals a day, even if she didn’t finish everything. The teen wanted to cooperate, and always tried to finish her plate.

Thirty minutes later they were on their way to Stark Tower. Despite feeling rested there was a sense of weakness in her body, as if she had pushed herself too hard during gym. The girl didn’t say anything about it though, it would probably be gone by tomorrow. The food _had_ helped.

Carrie was intimidated by how huge and expensive everything was, and how drab and plain she felt walking in. Phil in his suit and calm, confident stride fit right in, but the teen knew in comparison, she stood out like a sore thumb.

**_“Hello Agent Coulson.”_ **

She jumped.

“Hello JARVIS, I’m here to see Mr. Stark, its urgent.” Phil said calmly to the ceiling.

JARVIS? This was JARVIS?

Hearing Phil explain it was one thing, hearing a disembodied voice was another. Mama would be screaming and frothing at the mouth if she knew what her daughter was doing. . .

Carrie shuddered.

**_“One moment please.”_ **

“JARVIS is very polite.” She tried to distract herself. Occasionally, she was vividly reminded of what her mother would do to her if she knew Carrie was doing things she expressly forbade or would forbid. Even knowing that the world (the universe) was filled with people and things much scarier and more dangerous than Mama, Carrie couldn’t help but fear her most of all.

Phil, as always, noticed her discomfort. He didn’t ask though and played along, understanding that she really needed to talk about something, anything.

“Oh yes, much politer than his boss for sure.” Phil’s smile was wry. Carrie couldn’t help but wonder why the lobby was empty. Did JARVIS do the desk lady’s job too? Was it the desk person’s day off?

**_“I’m sorry sir and miss but Mr. Stark informed me that he is not in.”_ **

“He told you that?” Phil pulled out his phone and started to dial. The elevator doors opened, and she followed her caretaker inside. Had JARVIS or Phil done that?

 ** _“Yes.”_** There was a hint of amusement in the very proper voice.

“Alright then,” Phil put the phone to speaker “Sorry about this JARVIS.” There was a beep and the click as the line connected. “Stark, we need to talk.”

 _“You have reached the life model decoy of Tony Stark, please leave a message.”_ A man’s voice said promptly.

“This is urgent.”

_“Then leave it urgently.”_

The elevator doors opened into a very big room – much like the lobby her house could have fit inside easily – where two people sat on a couch that was very long and screamed expensive.

Anthony Edward Stark and Virginia ‘Pepper’ Potts had been part of the lessons to help Carrie catch up on ‘basic’ knowledge. The former was a self-described genius, billionaire, playboy philanthropist and the hero Iron Man. Pepper was his right-hand woman, now CEO of his company and probably one of the most important people in his life. Tony didn’t bother to hide his annoyance while Pepper was smiling indulgently.

“Security breach.” He grumbled.

“Phil, come in!” Pepper said happily, rising from the couch.

“Phil?” His name is Agent!” Tony protested, following her. Carrie tried to suppress the smile that wanted to break out on her face, the two of them were kind of funny to watch.

After a game of hot potato - Pepper passed the digital folder Phil brought to her boyfriend and took his wine after passing her own to Coulson - Tony sullenly pointed out that consultation hours were between eight and five every other Thursday as his girlfriend helped herself to his drink.

“This isn’t a consultation.” Phil corrected.

“Is this about the Avengers? Which I know nothing about.” Pepper said the last part hurriedly.

“The Avengers Initiative was scrapped Super-Secret Spy and babysitter,” Tony said, opening the folder. “Besides, I didn’t qualify!”

“Didn’t know that either!” Pepper said.

“Apparently I’m volatile, self-obsessed, don’t play well with others.” The billionaire listed off as he walked to a table further in the room.

“That I did know.” The smile on her face was one of reminisce.

“This isn’t about personality profiles anymore.” Phil remained unflappable.

“Yea, Miss Potts, if you will?”

As she went to join her boyfriend, Tony took a moment to really look at Carrie.

“Who’s the kid anyway, and why is dressed like a ye olden schoolteacher?”

“Tony.” The ginger CEO lightly smacked his shoulder.

“My name is Carrie White, Mr. Stark. It’s nice to meet you and Miss Potts.” Carrie fidgeted. “Mama wouldn’t let me wear anything else, I’m not used to picking my clothes.”

“Yeesh, that sucks.” Tony frowned as he opened up the digital files. “Your name is familiar.”

 ** _“She was the girl from Chamberlain discussed in the papers, Sir.”_** JARVIS put in helpfully.

Pepper’s brows furrowed. The files were on display now, showing information on people Phil had been careful to make sure Carrie would know. The Hulk, Thor, Captain America, and she could even see her own file.

While the other files were displaying images of battles, hers was of prom night. Carrie looked out the window, not wanting to see – she could still taste the pig’s blood in her mouth, feel it clogging up in her nose. The girl couldn’t stomach pork or any kind of red meat now, and the smell of it cooking was enough to make her nauseous. She felt Phil’s eyes on her as Tony and Pepper spoke to each other.

Then suddenly Phil was taking Pepper to the airport and she was left alone with Tony. Carrie had no idea what to say and settled for a nervous smile, noting with relief that the personal file folders had been pushed back. The billionaire was looking at an image of the Tesseract.

“So, kid.” He said, making her jump. “How, you holding up? Didn’t get through a lot of that article but I read enough to know you had a shitty time.”

She ventured closer and admitted. “Uh, some days are easier than others. It’s just hard – I’m used to people not liking me, hating me even. I need to remind myself that no one’s going to trick me like Chris did on prom night. That can be… hard to remember.”

Oh yes it could. Carrie still had nights she couldn’t sleep out of overwhelming fear that this was a trick, that one night an agent would slip into her room to perform some kind of humiliation to remind her of her place. She was Carrie White; this wasn’t normal, and she hadn’t forgotten the nightmarish experience of summer camp years ago. It was like being surrounded by enemies with all her paths of limited escape blocked.

If her fears proved right this would be much worse.

Tony regarded her for a moment.

“Okay kid, that is just sad.”

Carrie shrugged.

You had to have friends? People you talked to?” He tried.

“Ms. Desjardin and Sue were nice to me the week before the prom. Sue helped Chris bully me for as long as I can remember but after what happened in the showers, she felt bad, especially when Ms. Desjardin yelled at them. She asked her boyfriend. . . she asked Tommy to take me to the prom so I could be happy for one night.” Carrie shifted. “Tommy. . . he was nice. He only took me to the prom because Sue asked but I felt that he really wanted me to be happy. He even said we could just go out for a hamburger if the prom was too much. I… I wish I said yes. He’d still be alive, and Sue’s daughter would have her dad.”

“Wait? What?” Tony said. This Sue told a girl she’d been bullying for years about her much too soon pregnancy?

Carrie nodded, misunderstanding. “I know. I don’t think Sue knows yet. She realized what Chris was going to do but was too late to stop the prank. I felt her and the baby after I started training my powers.”

“You felt the baby?” Tony repeated. “You felt that it was a girl?”

“I felt the Tesseract too.” Carrie dropped the bombshell on him like it was no big deal. “I think it was bored because it had no problem indulging me. It showed me other planets and outer space.”

Tony mentally bumped her file to the top of his homework list and decided to prod further.

“So, what else can you do? I mean, this,” Tony opened up her file, thankfully keeping the video miniaturized. “You did this without any hand gestures. Is it always with a thought or do you need to use hand gestures sometimes?”

“The second.” Carrie admitted. “It depends on my mental state. I’ve been practicing but I haven’t been able to do that all at once again. I was so angry. . . I shut the doors and windows at once right after shoving everyone back. Normally I’d need few seconds or minutes between each so I can concentrate.”

“So, you can’t multitask yet.” Tony summarized.

“I can if its small things like making breakfast and juggling ingredients. Holding a car above my head and trying to stop another from smashing into me at the same time is. . . doable.” Carrie said lamely, remembering the training simulations. She wondered if she would do better in actual dangerous scenarios.

The billionaire looked at her. “That was creepily specific.”

“Training simulations.” She reassured him. “Even if Director Fury wanted to actually do that, Phil and my doctors wouldn’t let it happen.”

They talked a bit more. Tony was horrified to learn she knew next to no modern bands and never handled a cell phone before. Carrie wasn’t sure how it happened, but he suddenly started writing a list of movies and music she needed to get a hold of ‘pronto’ in his words.

“Nightmare Before Christmas? Come on tell me you’ve seen that!

“You’ve never seen Mean Girls?

No Beyonce music? Are you serious?!”

Tony acted like it was the highest of crimes the longer the list of her ignorance grew. By the time Phil came back to pick her up, he outright demanded they arrange a movie marathon and said he would personally give her a new phone because. THIS. COULD. NOT. STAND.

She wondered how it was possible to hear all those capital letters, but it was. Phil wasn’t able to escape until he gave his word. They left Tony huffing to himself as he went to look through the files. Something about a laptop.

Strangely enough, Phil was smiling as they exited the building. Not his fond-that-was-sweet smile but a matter of fact all-according-to-plan smile.

Carrie didn’t comment. She wasn’t sure if he would even tell her anyways.


	6. Helicarrier

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The hunt for Loki, his mind scramble Scepter, and the Cube by Helicarrier is underway. Carrie gets some much needed advice and reassurance from a doctor (not that kind of doctor). Enjoy!

Carrie didn’t look up from her book as Phil tried to speak with his idol, Steve ‘Captain America’ Rogers and consistently put his foot in his mouth. This was partly because she was too embarrassed for her handler to look, and she didn’t like the way Steve had looked at _her_ when they met.

He had probably read her file, so she tried not to let it get to her. Soon enough they would be too caught up in finding the Cube to be awkward. In any case her past would be common knowledge among the Avenger roster and Carrie knew theirs ~~except Black Widow but that was to be expected~~. He was kind, at least, as kind as Phil had insisted, and gave Carrie space.

The book, third of the Harry Potter series was as interesting as the first two. When they approached the Helicarrier in their Quinjet, she slipped a bookmark into her place and got her bag.

Phil told her she could stay outside a bit if she wanted, so Carrie hung back as Steve and Bruce Banner spoke, Natasha ‘Black Widow’ Romanoff, standing by silently. The teen remembered Phil mentioning that Black Widow and Hawkeye often ran missions together and wondered what she was thinking. Carrie could have used her powers to get an idea, of course, but privacy and consent outside a mission was the first thing Phil impressed on her, and it was rude, so she didn’t. ~~Black Widow was not someone to piss off.~~

She smiled shyly at Bruce when he noticed her. “Hello Doctor Banner.” He nodded in return. ~~Ms.~~ Agent Romanoff then warned them to get inside – because the Helicarrier wasn’t a boat but a ship and was rising from the water. Carrie was in awe.

Bruce’s smile was pointedly fixed. He had thought the Helicarrier was a submarine and commented with stiff cheerfulness. “Oh no, this is much worse!”

They went inside; Bruce almost immediately headed to his lab while everyone else and the crew maintaining the Helicarrier’s flight also used their technology to track down the man who stole the Tesseract – Director Fury said he called himself Loki, the God of Mischief. Apparently Norse deities were walking among them now – Phil told her others appeared in a small town some time ago and fought _something_ , which ended up leveling said town.

It would make sense for Carrie’s mother to keep that fact a secret from her. She never would have stood for her daughter questioning God. Carrie still believed in Him, but her experiences with the Tesseract and Loki…

Well, God wasn’t the only one out there. Perhaps Loki’s people weren’t even actual gods and had been mistaken for such by people in the past. Regardless, Carrie understood that life was cruel, and some people really _needed_ something to believe in to survive it. She had certainly needed it back in Chamberlain, even when her mama tried to twist it and faked Bible passages. The girl didn’t have to agree with others, just respect that they believed in something different and leave it at that.

It was amazing how simple a solution could be if you got past the need to be in the right.

Since they couldn’t really act until they found Loki, Carrie went to her assigned room to continue reading. She needed to be in a certain radius of the Tesseract to sense it and wouldn’t be of much help until Doctor Banner pinpointed its general location.

She would just stay out of the way until then. It was a good chance to keep resting anyway – the lethargy was lighter but still _there_.

* * *

Agent Barton had done well, Loki was pleased by the progress they had already made. The resource and manpower were good for improving his sour mood at having been delayed by the mortal girl Carrietta White.

He had researched her of course, once things were underway and Selvig had the materials he needed to start the portal’s construction. Agent Barton had read her file and was able to tell him everything SHIELD knew. The puppet also alerted him to the Avengers Initiative and the members it would be composed of.

The Other expressed interest on behalf of Thanos on the girl – he was to take her alive and have her delivered to him. Her ability to interact with the Tesseract and Specter was unprecedented. Thanos wanted to know more. The former prince almost pitied her. ~~There was no ‘almost’ about it, he _did_ pity her~~. Having the Mad Titan’s interest could only invite pain and misery.

Well, pain and misery seemed to be something Carrietta White was intimately familiar with. Loki had read her file and prided himself on not allowing his composure to slip in front of the mortals. He himself experienced what Midgard would label ‘bullying’ but it never went to the extremes the girl suffered. The cruelty heaped upon her was deliberately meant to break the child, because she was a nothing. A pathetic little nothing who only deserved scorn for not fitting to their standards of what was adequate behavior.

Then the tables turned when her tormentors realized they had been harassing someone with power, someone who could crush them with a thought. Now they labeled her a monster even as that word was thrown back at them by the masses. ~~A monster, yes. Always a monster, never the victim. Always in the wrong, no matter what -~~

“Sir?”

Loki looked up to see the enthralled Agent Barton waiting for acknowledgement that he had his attention. The former prince of Asgard dipped his head a fraction to confirm he was listening.

“The equipment is ready, and we’ve located our target, all that’s left is to pick up the iridium.”

The Specter pulsed in his hands, power humming, brushing against his skin as he smiled. “Then let us be on our way.”

* * *

Carrie had finished her book, but rather than go to the next one in the series, she decided to stretch her legs and walk around a bit. If she happened to walk past Doctor Banner’s lab on her way. . .

She sighed. Really, why was she doing this to herself? The teenager pulled out the digital folder of the lessons her tutor gave her and opened it. This was among several and contained information on important superheroes that would be in the spotlight for years to come.

Bruce Banner transformed into the Hulk whenever he got angry, after testing a potential super soldier serum containing gamma radiation on himself. The only way to keep the change from happening was to stay calm.

Which was hard to do when a high-ranking military man who was obsessed with your power kept hunting you regardless of the collateral damage. Doctor Banner seemed to have perfected the art of hiding from his stalker the last few years though.

Carrie could still remember the moment she lost it – all the rage, pain, and humiliation she suffered through her entire life; it was too much. Even now, she could admit, if only to herself, that she hadn’t care whether Chris, Tina or the other kids who hurt died at the prom. It had been more about the principal of the thing that bothered her when she woke up. Carrie never wanted to be like them, ever. She never wanted to hurt other people no matter how much she was hurting, no matter what she fantasied when her life was more miserable than usual.

She couldn’t bring herself to care whether they lived or died as long as they stayed in the past and left her alone. Carrie didn’t want them dead and that would have to be enough – there was too much pain for her to forgive them. They wouldn’t even be sorry anyway.

That said, the girl was still concerned about herself. Odds were that someday, likely soon, she would get very angry while using her powers. Carrie didn’t want a repeat of prom night and knew she needed to learn how to maintain her self-control when in such a state. Doctor Banner seemed the best person to ask for advice, Carrie just didn’t have the nerve to go up to him.

Even if she did, why would he give her advice? Carrie knew he was only here to find the Cube and then wanted to be on his way as soon as possible. He would probably think she was trying to get close to him on orders from Director Fury. It could be that her powers would make him afraid of her too. Deputy Hill had shown more wariness than her boss of Carrie in the beginning, neither were cruel to her. Doctor Banner may not be the same, for all mild mannered he was when she met him. She hadn’t missed how he flinched away from proximity to SHIELD agents and didn’t let down his guard. It was relatable.

There was also that fact that she was. . . Carrie White. The “pudding pop”, “pizza face”, “old praying, fart face Carrie” who ate shit. The last month was so exhausting – there was so many things she needed to learn and get used to. She could pick her own clothes in any color she wanted, taking a shower was an **_option_** , and slept with pillows and blankets instead of a bare mattress.

Mama wasn’t here to beat her for the smallest of things. Carrie didn’t have to worry about being locked in a closet with her own urine and feces stinking it up. There was no fear of going hungry. Carrie hit the bed every night too tired to think with all the changes to her life.

The last week things had been slowing down though. . . and now thoughts she wished would disappear were making themselves known. The teen really needed a distraction and she impulsively grabbed the next book in the Harry Potter series from her dresser.

She **_would_** take a walk and see what Doctor Banner was up too – maybe she could get him lunch if he hadn’t eaten yet. It might work as a peace offering and if it went well Carrie could make a habit of this in return for bothering him with her questions. If he said no, she could retreat to a new corner with her book and figure out something else.

A quick question to the kitchen staff and it turned out that he hadn’t been down to eat. So, Carrie put together a tray from the cafeteria and went over to the lab. It was hard to balance so she snuck a glance around before using the Power to levitate some of the heavier stuff. The book was tucked snugly under her arm.

The doors slid open, announcing her arrival, and Carrie waited nervously in the doorway. The scientist looked up from the device he was making and seemed surprised to see her.

“Um, you didn’t eat, Doctor Banner.” A thought flung some of her blonde hair from her face. “I brought you something, i-if that’s okay.”

“No, its fine.” He looked at the digital clock hanging from the wall. “I didn’t realize the time.”

There was a corner of the lab, shielded behind a frame where one could eat without having their food around the projects and Carrie set it all down on the table. Doctor Banner stared as a small bowl of tea bags neatly avoided a collision with his face and settled on the table.

“I heard you liked tea but didn’t know which, so I brought a couple of what they had. Um, my lunch is here too. Would you mind if I stayed? I can leave if you want me to!” Carrie inwardly cringed at how pathetic she sounded.

“You can stay.” He smiled kindly. “And you can call me Bruce.”

“You can call me Carrie.” She said shyly. “I-I don’t really go by my full name.”

The lunch was a simple thing of oatmeal with cinnamon rolls as a snack. Bruce chose the chamomile tea and Carrie decided on the black tea. She noted how the scientist smiled at the sight of the cinnamon buns.

It was quiet for a few minutes, as they ate their sandwiches and waited for the tea to steep. Carrie waited another minute before she took the plunge.

“Bruce? I was hoping to ask you for some advice.” She said rubbing her hands together. “I’m sure you read my file and the news about Chamberlain.”

“Yes.” Bruce grimaced. “I have my issues with SHIELD but you’re better off with them than back in that place. Have you been. . . adjusting well?”

“I have my good days and my bad days.” Carrie admitted. “At first, I was kept so busy I didn’t really think, but now. . .”

“Yeah. I get it. You have to think things through eventually but keeping busy helps when you need some inner quiet.”

Her smile was strained. “I am trying to figure something out that keeping busy can’t help me with. I – I was so angry when Chris dumped the pig’s blood on me. I felt like I was in haze, that everyone was laughing at me and all of the horrible things I went through were just playing over and over in my head. In that moment I wanted to hurt the people who hurt me so badly. I wanted them gone. Then the SHIELD agents knocked me out and when I woke up, I was in control again, but. . .”

“The feelings aren’t gone.” Bruce finished for her.

“Director Fury said that, uh, one of the reasons SHIELD took me in instead of locking me away was because of my reaction when I thought I killed people. I was so upset, so horrified – but it was more about how I had become a monster. One of the things I promised myself was not to end up cruel and heartless like Chris. It was a relief when I found out I hadn’t killed anyone but. . . a lot of them either mistreated me or looked the other way and did nothing. It was mostly the popular kids who came to Prom, outcasts stayed away. I-I didn’t care if Chris or Trina died, even now. I don’t want to kill them, but I wouldn’t be sad if they died. I still hate them, it’s all still inside me and I don’t know what to do if I snap again.”

Bruce didn’t say anything as she spoke, calmly and intently listening to her. When she was done, he didn’t say anything right away, and took a few moments to think.

“I know what it’s like to have to be careful about getting angry, we both know its why you came to me. I’m also assuming you read my file too, so you know my dad was a piece of work like your mom and I didn’t fit in growing up.”

Carrie nodded. Yes, she did know. Bruce’s dad hurt him and Mrs. Banner, eventually Bruce’s mom ending up getting killed and Mr. Banner arrested.

“So, as someone with shared life experiences and similar problems, my advice is to practice and have conviction.”

“Practice and conviction?”

“Anything that helps you feel calm. A game or a song you can play in your head, even an activity is good. I’m sure you have something like that already but it’s probably not positive.”

He hit the nail right on the head. Whenever she had a nightmare or was on the verge of a panic attack, Carrie indulged in a mantra of ‘Don’t lose control. Stay calm,’ which often had the opposite effect.

“Breathing exercises help, which I’m sure SHIELD will provide. Conviction is important too – you said you made a promise to yourself to be a good person. Your determination to stick to that will make all the difference, make sure you understand your reasons. It isn’t a bad thing to not care what happens to those girls. Their abuse was horrific, and they wouldn’t be sorry anyway, you’re already upholding your promise by not going after them for revenge. That isn’t something to feel guilty for.”

The rest of lunch was spent talking more, Bruce admitted that Carrie may have to improvise since what worked for him, may not work for her. The important thing was to not give up and see failures as something she can learn from. It was also important to find out her limits and plan for them accordingly. Try to have people she trusts nearby.

He also admitted that it was easier said than done.

Carrie was gathering the dishes when Phil walked in. The agent smiled at the sight. “Have a good time?”

She nodded. “Bruce and I had lunch together.”

“That’s nice. I was coming to let Doctor Banner know we’ve located Loki in Germany and sent the Black Widow with Captain America to capture him. It’s possible we may be able to get the Cube’s location from him.”

Bruce nodded. “Thanks for letting me know. I’ll keep working on the tracking algorithm. It’s possible he left it behind there, even if he didn’t I can find echo trails and track it from there.”

“Please do. Carrie, may I speak with you for a moment?”

After a quick goodbye to Bruce, Carrie followed her handler, the tray and dishes floating next to her. Phil, as always, regarded the sight as perfectly normal.

“Once you’ve taken care of that I want you to stick with Doctor Banner. You can help him in the lab, and it will keep you busy.”

Carrie nodded. There was a lot of things he wasn’t saying but she could venture a guess. “If Loki gets caught, you’re bringing that spear. . . thing here too, right?”

Phil’s smile widened a bit. “Of course. Just keep an eye on it while Doctor Banner examines it. We don’t want any more surprise visitors springing up on us or Loki getting to him.”

The teen agreed with him but still couldn’t help but feel she was missing something.


	7. Real Power

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am now under quarantine after I got a call that I came into contact with someone who tested positive at my job. This is the second time I've had to stay home and I can't help but feel embarrassed for some reason even though I know its beyond my control. I guess I'm weird. I'm trying to look at the bright side - more time to work on this, for one and watch Doctor Who starting with the classic series for another. Its like Star Wars - there's no end to the countless stories it can tell, from major characters to even minor, one-shot ones having adventures and self-discovery.
> 
> Okay, that is done. I hope you enjoy this chapter. The story will pick up in action within the next two, don't worry! Please look below for bottom note where I elaborate on some things for the chapter.

Carrie felt it when the spear came in range. The Presence freely reached out to her, getting inside her head with the same ease as before. The only thing that kept her from panicking was the lack of anything insidious, as with their first contact. The girl had a good sense for that kind of intent from enduring Chris and the other students, so she was fairly confident that provided she was careful, she had nothing to fear from the Presence itself.

She tugged on Bruce’s sleeve to get his attention, when he looked up, she whispered the news to him. He was still for a moment, then asked her to help him set up a stand for it.

It was quiet for several moments, Carrie had to multitask as the Presence got a feel for her. It didn’t actually look into her memories or go deeply in her mind, merely skimmed the surface. There was a pleasant humming in her bones as it did so.

They were able to see Loki as he was escorted past the lab to whatever cell Director Fury had prepared for him. Carrie couldn’t help but step closer to Bruce as the man looked up at them. His smile was one of smugness and mockery. He just finished passing them when another group came into view, heading right for the lab and carrying something familiar.

Seeing Iron Man with Captain America and Black Widow was a surprise, Carrie hadn’t been sure if he would be part of this when he didn’t show up on the Helicarrier. The fourth person was a stranger; a tall, well-built man with blonde hair to his shoulders, the start of a beard, and light blue eyes. Like Loki he was dressed in armor but instead of green and gold the color was blue and silver with a bit of red. His armor was also more militant compared to Loki’s stream-like and elegant design.

He was Thor, crown prince of Asgard and Loki’s older brother, come to take his younger sibling and the Tesseract back to his home.

Carrie silently hoped to not be in the room when the prince and Director Fury eventually argued over that.

The ‘mind scramble Scepter’ as Tony put it, was placed in the stand she and Bruce prepared. Once that was done, the billionaire left to store his suit away and assess possible damage. Black Widow was gone before Carrie realized she left.

As Bruce started to hook the Scepter ~~it sounded better than spear~~ up to various machines Carrie realized that Thor was looking at her inquisitively. She offered a shy smile and decided to break the ice, “Uh, hello Prince Thor.”

The Asgardian smiled. “You may simply call me Thor, my lady.” He offered a short, polite bow.

“Oh, uh Thor then.” She played with her fingers. “Are you hungry? I can show you where the cafeteria is. If you’re tired, I can ask Phil to find you a room though.”

“I require neither rest nor nourishment at this time, my lady. However, I thank you for your hospitality.” He said. “May I ask your name?”

“It’s Carrietta White, but I go by Carrie.” She said.

“It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Lady Carrie. If I may be so bold, is it true you were the one to hold Loki back when he tried to enter Midgard?”

Midgard? Did he mean Earth?

“Yes, I held him back as long as I could.” Carrie confirmed. “There were others with him, but he was the only one to come through. Loki. . . he looked like was sick. Flushed skin, circles under his eyes, a bit stiff whenever he moved.”

“I see.” His eyes were dark with worry and anger. “You mentioned others?”

“Yes. I couldn’t get a good luck though – one was about the size of Loki but didn’t look Asgardian or human. The other. . .” She shivered. “They were huge, from the videos I’ve seen even larger than the Hulk. I think they were the boss because they sat in this huge throne. It was in shadows, but I could see the eyes, and . . . and they were _insane_. Dangerous. Terrifying. I felt so _helpless_.”

Thor was quiet.

“I thank you for this knowledge, Lady Carrie. I will have much to deliberate on once Loki is dealt with.”

“Guys.” The two turned to Bruce. “We have a briefing.”

They joined the others in the back of the Helicarrier’s control room, at the conference table where Agent Romanoff had already tapped into live feed of Loki’s cell, allowing a screen to appear in front of each chair to show to his confrontation with Director Fury. Carrie sat in a chair, Bruce opting to stay standing a little behind her. She rubbed her hands together as she listened. Deputy Hill was looking at her own screen nearby.

The teen couldn’t help but notice that the former prince did not look as sick as he did in the faculty. Much like her – Carrie was largely recovered from holding the door shut but that lethargic feeling was still being slow to fade. She wasn’t sure if she could do anything like that again soon without risking her heart. The doctors were very strict about her taking care of herself.

“In case it’s unclear, if you try to escape, if you so much as scratch that glass it’s 30,000 feet straight down in a steel trap. You get how that works? Director Fury said coolly, demonstrating the hatch he could open and drop the glass prison Loki was contained inside through with the push of a button. Carrie doubted he would survive – god or immortal he probably needed to breathe.

“Ant.” Fury gestured to the Asgardian. “Boot” He gestured to the control panel.

“An impressive cage,” Loki commented, his smile untroubled. “Not built for me, I think.”

“Built for something a lot **_stronger_** than you.”

“Oh, I’ve heard. The mindless beast. Makes play he’s still a man.” Loki was looking directly at the camera, looking directly at _them_. Black Widow cast a glance at the scientist standing behind Carrie, but the teen herself didn’t. Her eyes were glued to the screen, breath tense as Loki continued his taunts.

“How desperate are you, that you call on such lost creatures to defend you?”

“How desperate am I? You threaten my world with war, you steal a force you can’t hope to control, you talk about peace and you kill cause its fun. You have made me _very_ desperate. You might not be glad that you did.” Director Fury warned ominously.

“Ooh. It burns you to have come so close. To have the Tesseract, to have power, unlimited power. And for what? A warm light, for all mankind to share. And then be reminded what real power is.” Loki smirked.

“Well, let me know if ‘real power’ wants a magazine or something.” Fury snarked as he turned away and left his prisoner to his own company.

Agent Romanoff shut the live feed off, her expression unreadable. It was quiet for a moment.

“He really grows on you, doesn’t?” Bruce said mildly.

“Loki’s gonna drag this out.” Steve said grimly. “So, Thor, what’s his play?”

“He has an army called the Chitauri. They’re not of Asgard nor any world known. He means to lead them against your people, they will win him the Earth. In return, I suspect, for the Tesseract.” Thor said gravely, expression clouded with worry.

“An army,” Steve repeated. “From outer space.”

The universe kept getting bigger and bigger. Agent Romanoff had an ‘oh perfect’ expression cross her face as Bruce’s lit up.

“So, he’s building another portal. That’s what he needs Erik Selvig for.”

“Selvig?” Thor asked.

“He’s an astrophysicist.” Bruce said.

“He’s a friend.” The Asgard prince revealed.

“Loki has him under some kind of spell, along with one of ours.” Agent Romanoff said.

“I wanna know why Loki let us take him, he’s not leading an army from here.” Steve remarked.

Carrie fiddled with her hands. “He must want something. It must be important if he’s letting us get to the Specter.”

“Indeed, but what?” Thor mused.

“I don’t think we should be focusing on Loki. That guy’s a bag full of cats, you can smell crazy on him.” Bruce insisted.

“Have care with how you speak. Loki may be beyond reason, but he is of Asgard, and my brother.” Asgard’s prince said sternly.

“He killed eighty people in two days.” Romanoff said flatly.

“He’s adopted.” Thor countered quickly, with no change in expression. Carrie blinked. Okay. . .

“I think it’s about mechanics.” Bruce mused. “Iridium, what do they need it for?”

“It’s a stabilizing agent.” Tony said smoothly as he walked in with Phil by his side. He muttered something to the agent about Portland before returning his attention to them. “Means the portal won’t collapse on itself like it did at SHIELD.” He spotted Thor. “No hard feelings Point Break, you got a mean swing.”

The billionaire, dressed in a casual suit tapped Thor’s arm as he passed, leaving the prince to stare at him in bewilderment. Almost everyone else in the room immediately looked annoyed. Bruce seemed faintly amused, more than anything.

“Also, it means the portal can open as wide and stay open as long as Loki wants.” Tony reached Director Fury’s control module and called out to the agents below. “Raise the mizzenmast. Jib the topsail!”

From Carrie’s vantage point she could make out many confused and slightly irritated expressions from the agents in hearing range.

“That man is playing Galaga!” Tony abruptly added, pointing to an agent to the far right of the room. “Thought we wouldn’t notice, but we did.”

Phil was close by, Carrie asked lowly, “What’s Galaga?”

“A game.” The agent answered easily, noting that Steve Rogers was also listening in. “Lots of people like to play it.”

Meanwhile, Tony was looking at the screens on the control module and raised a hand to block one eye. He looked to Deputy Hill. “How does Fury see these?”

“He turns.” She responded, unamused.

“Sounds exhausting.” He started to explain that Agent ‘Hawkeye’ Barton could get the other raw materials with relative ease and the only major component left would be a power source. As he spoke, Carrie frowned as she noticed his hand brush against the side of the module. She caught a glimpse of _something_ , but the billionaire turned, and his body blocked it.

“When did you become an expert in thermonuclear astrophysics?” Deputy Hill asked.

“Last night.” Tony said. “The packet, Selvig’s notes, the extraction theory papers. Am I the only one who did the reading?”

“Does Loki need any particular kind of power source?” Steve asked. His expression was reminiscent of Deputy Hill’s.

“He would have to heat the Cube to 120 million Kelvin just to break the Coulomb barrier.” Bruce explained.

Tony looked pleased and added, “Unless Selvig has figured out how to stabilize the quantum tunneling effect.”

“If he could do that, he could achieve heavy ion fusion on any reactor in the planet.” Bruce finished.

“Finally! Someone who speaks English!”

“Is that what happened?” Steve muttered to himself as Tony and Bruce shook hands. The former expressed his respect for the latter’s work and how he was able to turn into a ‘enormous green rage monster’.

Director Fury stepped in and firmly reminded Tony that Bruce was only here to track down the Cube, and it would be good if he could lend a hand.

“I would start with that magical stick of his. It works an awful lot like a HYDRA weapon.” Steve said.

“I don’t know about that, but its powered by the Cube.” Director Fury said. “And -,”

“No, it’s not.”

Everyone in the briefing turned to look at Carrie, who flushed but kept talking. “No, it can’t be. The power is. . . its similar but different too. The Tesseract is all about places, but whatever is in Loki’s Scepter is about the mind.”

Even now she could feel the Presence. Much like the Tesseract, the Scepter seemed to find her a long-awaited novelty.

Director Fury regarded her for a moment.

“How do you know that?”

“I felt it.” Carrie said. “It took me a while to be sure, but with the Scepter here, I’m as positive as I can be. I-I don’t know if the Tesseract and whatever powers Loki’s Scepter came from the same place or were just created the same way, but they _are_ connected. When I . . . um, communicated with the Tesseract, I felt that it was all on _my_ end that was maintaining the connection – the Cube just latched on. The Scepter – it doesn’t need that, it gets inside my head with no effort, because that’s what it _does_. Just like the Tesseract is a doorway, the Scepter is a thing of the mind. It powers itself and doesn’t need the Cube, but. . . but I think they can go together.”

Carrie’s brow was furrowed in thought at the end while the adults were all thoughtful.

Director Fury’s expression was unreadable. “If you turn out to be correct, do you think other power sources like them exist?”

There was no way she could give a concrete answer to that, but her instincts told her otherwise. Carrie folded her hands in front of her on the table. “I won’t be surprised if there are.”

“It is plausible.” Thor put in. “There could be a third or even more. A common law of the realms is for powerful artifacts to come in sets.”

“That’s wonderful.” Fury grumbled, he looked annoyed and tired. “White, stay with Banner and Stark. You can shut any portal Loki opens and I want you close to the Scepter. Whatever is powering that thing is interested in you, from what you’ve said so _keep_ it distracted and behaving. If you can get any information on how to reverse whatever Loki did to turn two of the sharpest men I know into his personal flying monkeys, that would be better.”

“Yes, sir.” Carrie hoped she could follow through, then she hesitatingly asked. “Huh, what do you mean by flying monkeys?”

“I am afraid I do not understand either.” Thor cut in.

“I do!” Steve said eagerly as Fury sighed. Tony just looked pained and there was a sense of exasperation and awkwardness in the room. “I understood that reference, it’s the 1939 Wizard of Oz movie.”

Thor looked curious and Carrie could tell he was going to ask some questions. Phil probably did too because he interjected. “Let’s get a move on. Go to the lab, Carrie. I’ll be around later to check on you.”

So, she followed Bruce and Tony, leaving the others behind as Thor approached Steve and Black Widow slipped away from the table.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just wanted to make it clear that at this point SHIELD (Director Fury) is still unsure of the Tesseract and Scepter's full capabilities. Fury wants Carrie close since for all they know, Loki can arrange for someone to connect the Tesseract to the Scepter and open a portal. He will also take Carrie's words into consideration once this is all over and mull on the implications. There is also the fact that she kept the initial portal closed for at least a while and in light of Thor's information, she needs to be kept safe in case they're too late to stop the army. Loki might very well be here to personally assassinate her to nip that problem in the bud after all.
> 
> Carrie is also encouraged to stay close to Bruce since she has the raw power to at least stall the Hulk if not his transformation. At least that is what the World Security Council believes, much to Fury and Hill's annoyance (granted her performance in training leaves them inclined to think so as well, but there are risks to consider and the WSC brushes those risks off). They and Phil don't let her out of sight too long because there's already worrying mutters about scary interest in her from terrifying parties. They also don't want the WSC (who is completely willing to launch a missile into a populated city where the Avengers were containing the situation successfully instead of insisting on backup) to get their hands on Carrie either. The morons will not take her trauma as seriously as they should (if they give a damn at all) and just make things worse. The world does not need a telepathic of her raw power going off the deep end. 
> 
> Also, Disclaimer time! I just realized I neglected it before so this goes for all previous chapters as well. I do not own Avengers or Carrie in any way, shape, or form. I also make no money off of this.


	8. Blueberries?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter is when things go to hell. Right now is the calm before the storm. Please Enjoy!

Carrie was not expecting the phone and laptop that were almost dropped into her lap as soon as she took a seat near the Scepter.

“I’m sorry, what. . ?” She started.

“Most kids have one,” Tony said casually. “Figured you could use your own stuff since SHIELD will know whatever you’re doing when you use their tech. They’re nosy like that.”

“B-but a phone and a laptop?”

“Why not? You need it and I’m very, very rich. Everything is paid for, by the way and you have unlimited apps, songs, and all that stuff to pick from. I also included a list of movies you have to see on the laptop cause it’s a crime you have no idea who the Disney Princesses are.”

Disney? That company that made cartoons had actual royalty?

The teenager ran her fingers over the lavender laptop’s smooth, slick, surface. Much like all the things in Tony’s penthouse when she met him, it screamed expensive. The phone was the same.

~~Who gives Carrie White a no strings attached gift without planning to humiliate her later?~~

Carrie took a deep breath and really looked at Tony. SHIELD had made her study him like the others. They called him a narcissist with a big ego that didn’t play well with others. To an extend she could see there some truth to that, but it was mostly wrong. This was a guy who funded projects of kids he just met and overpaid for anything he bought from the average person’s store. He hadn’t looked at Bruce ~~or her~~ like he was a monster either – whether most of the people on board were wary at least, Tony regarded him as a fellow scientist worthy of his respect that just had an anger management problem.

He was nice to her too, if a little odd. There was nothing Carrie learned about him that indicated Tony would pull some kind of trick. If he didn’t like you, he wasn’t subtle about it at all.

She exhaled and hugged the gifts to her chest, ignoring the prickle of anxiety.

“Thank you.” Carrie didn’t look up at him. “I’m sorry though, I don’t know how to use a phone yet. I’m starting with computers though.”

There was a firm pat on her shoulder. “No problemo, I’ll teach you how to use it in a bit.”

Then he started working with Bruce. Carrie sat back and continued to read, occasionally listening in. She wished she had sewing to work on, it was something to keep close to her in the future. Bruce could certainly do with clothes, or at least pants, he wouldn’t have to replace as often if the Hulk came out. The teen turned to the last pages of the book, which were blank and took a pen from her pocket to start doodling on ideas. While she was at it maybe a jacket for Tony with some hidden pockets. . .

Tony and Bruce’s conversation about the Hulk faded and all that was left was the paper in front of her. Carrie absently noted the Presence was humming steadily, it was no longer curling around in her mind but observing her sketches. Her imagination gradually became more detailed as she mentally mapped out the prototypes. Carrie could feel the fabric between her fingers, the muted snip of her scissors cutting out holes for the sleeves. . .

Then the Presence shifted in tune, no longer hummed but buzzed like an agitated bee. Carrie wasn’t able to maintain the tranquil concentrated calm and reluctantly pulled back from her work and looked around the lab.

Steve was talking to Tony and Bruce, and he didn’t look happy. The second was speaking . . . “What isn’t he telling us? I can’t do the equation unless I have all the variables.”

“You think Fury is hiding something?” His mask was pulled down, so Carrie could see the slight lines around his eyes and mouth from frowning, being pulled taunt as his expression smoothed over.

“Captain, he’s a spy. He’s THE Spy.” Tony said, conviction in every word. “His secrets have secrets.” A blueberry from his snack bag disappeared in his mouth. “It’s bugging him too, isn’t it?”

Attention was turned to Bruce. He tried to deflect but Steve wouldn’t let him.

The fugitive signed and brought up Loki’s jab to Fury about ‘A warm light for all mankind’ and suggested that it was meant for Tony. The billionaire immediately offered him pick of his blueberry bag and the offer was accepted.

“Even if Barton didn’t tell Loki about the tower it was all over the news.” Bruce explained, blueberries in hand.

“Stark Towers? That big. . . ugly building in New York?” Steve didn’t back down from Tony’s glare.

“It’s powered by an arc reactor, a self-sustaining energy source. That building will run itself for what? A year?”

“It’s just the prototype,” Tony Stark said nonchalantly. “I’m kind of the only name in clean energy right now.”

Bruce kept speaking, bringing up how strange it was that SHIELD hadn’t asked Tony to help them with the Tesseract since he their consultant and developing clean energy himself. Why was SHIELD even dabbling in clean energy anyway?

Carrie got to her feet, having heard enough. The longer this conversation went – specifically when Tony and Steve were arguing – the louder the buzzing got. Sure enough, it rose in pitch as Tony revealed that he had JARVIS hacking into SHIELD’s database to find out everything he wanted to know and then some.

“And you wondered why they didn’t want you on board?” Steve glowered.

“An intelligence organization that _fears_ intelligence. . . historically, _not_ awesome.” Tony snarked back.

“I think Loki is trying to wind u –“

“ _Stop_.”

Carrie had walked around Bruce to where the jewel at the Scepter’s looped tip glowed brightly. She raised a hand to hover over the jewel, careful not to touch it and tried to project calm and tranquility. She didn’t look up at them as she spoke.

“You’re giving fuel for the Scepter to spark off from. If you’re going to argue please don’t do it so close. The more upset you get the more it responds and makes you even _more_ upset.”

It was quiet for a moment.

“We’ll finish this talk later.” Steve relented.

Tony nodded in agreement. “Raincheck it is.”

The WWII veteran scowled. “Just find the Cube.” He nodded at Carrie and Bruce before leaving. There was another moment of quiet before Bruce broke it.

“Would you mind explaining what you felt? My monitors didn’t pick up anything, gamma levels stayed consistent during the argument.”

The teen frowned, trying to find the right words. “I don’t think it’s anything you’re monitoring, I’m not even sure if it can be monitored. I felt it getting agitated and stepped in. It’s like a soothing hum that turns into an angry buzz.”

“Maybe it’s like JARVIS, or the equivalent anyway.” Tony put in.

“You think this. . . thing, is capable of cognitive thought?” Bruce said slowly.

“Mr. Green, I’ve invented crazier _before_ I was Iron Man. It’s not farfetched.”

Bruce seemed surprised by the new nickname, but only said. “It’s responding to Carrie. . . perhaps synchronization?”

“Who knows? Maybe your powers give off some vibe that they like.” Tony shrugged to Carrie. “Your mind could be an interesting place to it too.”

“I highly doubt that.” Carrie said, bewildered. “I don’t have a lot of happy memories before leaving Chamberlain.” ~~By that she meant none at all.~~ “I mean, we’ve read each other’s files, so you know how horrible it could be. Unless it sees me being bullied as funny, I can’t imagine it wanting to stay in my head and experience that.”

“I think he meant a personality trait.” Bruce said kindly.

“Mr. Kurt won’t say it to my face, but I know that mentally I’m not all that good either. I have nightmares often and getting to choose my own clothes is overwhelming sometimes. I’m still not completely used to sleeping with pillows and blankets. There’s no one going out of their way to humiliate me and instead of being happy, I’m anxious and waiting for the shoe to drop. I-I try not to let it show, but I’m not just shy, I’m a _mess_.” Carrie didn’t look at them and turned to the glass windows that let them look at the control room. “A screw-up barely functioning mess. There are days it takes everything I have to leave my room because I’m afraid I was making things up. The Scepter _cannot_ like being in my head. It just can’t. This probably has something to do with my powers. I-I’m a novelty to them, that’s probably why.”

“We’re all messes kid.” Tony said. “Believe me when I say I’m just as messed up, in different ways.”

“Same.” Bruce added tiredly. “Carrie, even if you have a point the Scepter is not human in origin. If Tony is right, we have no way of comprehending its viewpoint, how it thinks, and why. That’s something that needs research to solve.”

She finally turned around, pulling her gray cardigan closer around her. “My mind won’t change.”

“Alright this is depressing, and I won’t have it.” Tony tossed something to her, and she fumbled the catch between her hands.. “This is a bag of blueberries eat it now or later. Get some sleep while you’re at it, you look ready to faceplant.”

“I can’t leave the lab.” She said. “Fury wants me to keep an eye on the Scepter.”

“We can get a cot in here.” Bruce said evenly.

Carrie was outvoted and outmaneuvered, within an hour she had a cot against a corner of the lab near the entrance. It was late, but not to the point it was early. The teen just admitted defeat and shook off her shoes, using the cardigan as an extra blanket with her book tucked under the pillow. Sleep claimed her quickly, the Presence’s humming soothing to listen to.

* * *

Loki ~~Odinson~~ ~~Laufeyson?~~ observed the Mind Stone’s power as it settled into a smooth hum.

It seemed the girl had fallen asleep, which was good news for him. The level of her interference with the Mind Stone’s role in his plan was equal parts vexing, worrying, and a source of grudging respect. It seemed to wrap its energies around her, peeking into the mind and ignoring everything else that wasn’t a threat. ~~Not that an Infinity Stone needed to worry about much.~~

Then the arguments started.

With the beast of rage so close by, in his state of icy controlled fury, the Mind Stone couldn’t help but respond and Loki did his best to nudge its energies into enchanting the frustration and petty jealously of the mortals nearby. Carrietta had managed to smooth out the hostility but now deep in her slumber, there was nothing she could do.

It wouldn’t do for her to wake up and set the plan back again though – but Agent Barton would arrive very soon, so he wasn’t too worried. The Hulk needed to be unleashed to cause chaos and the Avenger’s Initiative killed before it could be a threat. Carrietta also needed to be prepared for transport to Thanos.

Loki ignored the stab of discomfort in his belly. He was no match for the Mad Titan and would not be able to protect her even if he wanted to. The child was done for, her life and future were now Thanos’ to decide. There was no hope.

Just like there would be no hope for him if he failed his mission.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hoped you like it! Yeah, Loki has a bit of sympathy for Carrie that he Will Not Admit To because of how she was treated and it reminds him of his own experiences in Asgard. That said, it isn't enough for him to help her - he likes being alive.
> 
> Carrie's sewing will also be showing up more, as one of the ways she relieves stress and calms down, a positive coping method Bruce encouraged her to find.


	9. Deceit

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here it is, the longest one yet! The chapter where everything goes to hell. Carrie does her best to stay alive after being thrown into the deep end head first of a battle and does a pretty good job of it.
> 
> Alas, Loki is very adept at spinning things in his favor.

Carrie woke up automatically, a kneejerk reaction to the raising voices and frantically tried to find the source of the conflict, power curling inwards, ready to blast any offenders back.

When one lived with a mentally ill mother who beat them regularly whenever she wanted, screamed, and threw objects, one didn’t react well to waking up to an argument. Carrie’s school life couldn’t even be a sanctuary because she needed to keep her guard up against the bullying and when she didn’t fade into the background, she ended up getting yelled at by Chris and her followers. They always seemed so angry that she was just alive.

~~(You worthless piece of shit. Why are you here? Stupid, ugly, and pathetic.)~~

She didn’t really see anything as she scrambled to her feet, back pressed lightly against the wall, and tried to sort out the threat. All of the Avengers potentials were in the lab, with Director Fury also in attendance, bickering steadily growing. No one noticed Carrie yet – another skill she developed to survive living with Margaret was to move as quiet as possible. It was only a few weeks ago that she found out the Power also helped, making her as unnoticeable and unimportant as possible to anyone who would observe if Carrie was near her breaking point.

It seemed to be doing that now, Carrie called on it deliberately before she was fully aware of her surroundings, unsure it would work. If she made any sudden movements it would fail, but as long as she kept still the adults wouldn’t take notice of her. Swallowing, the teenager listened in.

SHIELD was using the Tesseract to make weapons. ~~Carrie wasn’t surprised but it was still disappointing.~~ Phill hadn’t mentioned anything about it to her. ~~Of course, not she was an _assignment_ , no matter how much he might like her. ~~Thor’s arrival had spooked the entire world and left them very aware of how outmatched and outgunned they were. SHIELD had been desperate to close that gap as much as they could.

The others, bar ~~Ms.~~ Agent Romanoff, were criticizing Fury for his actions and Carrie found herself being brought up as an example with the Cube.

“The Tesseract and the Scepter’s power is something we barely understand.” Bruce said, icy calm as he removed his glasses. “SHIELD attempting to make weapons with them isn’t a surprise, but you should not have exposed Carrie to them.”

“We weren’t making any headway after the initial breakthrough,” Fury said patiently. “When White proved to be able to communicate with the Cube, we needed to seize the opportunity. The data Selvig and his team got in that week was richer than anything they collected the past year.”

“So that makes everything better.” Tony said sarcastically.

“She’s a traumatized, abused child with powers she can barely understand and control.” Bruce said, a bit too quietly. “No one has any idea what exposing her mind to these energies will do to her mental health in the future. Its frail enough as it is.”

“She isn’t a child Banner, Chamberlain made sure of that.” Director Fury said flatly. “The only thing SHIELD has told her is the truth – there are people much worse and amoral that will break her to get her power. People who will put her crazy mother’s abuse to shame and she has to be protected from them. Her powers are also too potent and useful to go uncheck and untapped. It isn’t as if we’ve ignored her mental health –“

“Nah,” It was Tony again. “You just gave her a SHIELD psychiatrist, put her under the friendly-likable Super Nanny Agent that’s 110% loyal to you, and kept her isolated the last month you’ve had her.”

“White isn’t just an asset, she’s also a potential threat.” Agent Romanoff said calmly. “SHIELD has her under guard and is taking every measure we can to avoid her _becoming_ a threat in the future.”

Tony rolled his eyes. “Yeah, that’s why you put off introducing her to that Professor Xavier guy.”

Carrie’s brow furrowed in confusion. She saw her bewilderment echoed in Thor and Steve’s face.

“Professor Xavier?” Steve repeated.

“Powerful mutant with mind scramble powers that runs a school for kids like Carrie.” Tony said. “You _knew_ he would try to convince Carrie to leave if he found out you had her. I mean, sure, from what I know he has his own little group of supers, but he’d be way more worried about getting her help than putting the kid on a team to fight superpowered baddies.”

The teenager in question held herself tight. There were kids like _her_ somewhere?

Director Fury shared a look with Agent Romanoff before turning back to the billionaire. “We always intended to call in Professor X, Stark. Loki’s arrival messed up quite a bit of what we had planned for Ms. White.”

“Sure.”

“I find I must agree with Doctor Banner and Lord Stark,” Thor spoke up, deadly serious. “Allowing Lady Carrie to interact with forces beyond humanity’s understanding may have serious repercussions on her mind and body. I do not have the necessary teachings to determine precisely how, but severe consequences are likely for her if this continues. Not only that, but in tampering with the Tesseract and having someone capable of connecting to it such a way as she, you are announcing that Earth is ready for a higher form of war. Loki and his allies are only the beginning.”

“A higher form?” Bruce repeated. Tony, meanwhile, looked amused at how Thor addressed him, but was quick to call out Fury on trying to use the Tesseract as a deterrent when the latter tried to defend himself.

“Remind me again how you made your fortune, Stark.” Fury said, irritated.

“I’m sure if he still made weapons, Stark would be neck deep. . .” Steve cut in.

“Whoa, how is this now about me?”

Carrie covered her ears, and bit down on her lower lip. She caught the glow from the Scepter and realized what was happening – everyone’s negative emotions were being amplified. Maybe hers were too. Carrie couldn’t let this continue so she stepped forward, breaking the look-away thought bubble she put around herself. The adults were so busy arguing they didn’t notice.

Director Fury, Agent Romanoff, and Thor were visibly getting more agitated, but Steve and Tony were the ones nose to nose, looking seconds away from lashing out at each other.

Then Bruce got everyone’s attention when Fury tried to get him out of the room, and he brought up Loki’s cell. SHIELD’s director tried to justify it, but Bruce cut him off saying that it wouldn’t kill him – he’d already tried.

The room got very quiet; Carrie wasn’t surprised. She knew his history and he reminded her a lot of herself. If she hadn’t been so dead set on living long enough for one good thing to happen to her, Carrie would have taken her own life years ago. Bruce’s attempt was understandable, but no less heartbreaking.

As he reached for Scepter, she reached out too.

“ – I moved on. I focused on helping other people. I was _good_. I was fine, until you –“

Carrie had walked around the Scepter’s table from behind him, finally catching the eye of the adults and gently put her own hand over his as he reached behind him for the Scepter.

“You don’t want to do that.” She said.

Bruce hadn’t seemed to realize _what_ he was doing and was quick to take a step away from the Scepter as she walked around the table. Carrie let his hand go, and with her back to everyone, put a hand over the glow and tried to steady the energetic buzzing into a steady hum.

“I though I said if you’re going to argue, don’t do it so close to the Scepter.” Carrie said softly. There was an awkward moment.

“Sorry, my bad.” Tony muttered. “Got caught up in the heat of the moment.”

“I’m sorry too Carrie.” Steve admitted. “How long -?”

“Have I been awake? Long enough. Director Fury. . . is there really school with kids like me?”

~~‘ _Don’t give me false hope._ ’ Carrie wanted to say. ‘ _Be honest with me, like you always have_.’~~

“Yes, Ms. White there is.” Fury said. “You haven’t reached it in your studies yet but there are a group of humans referred to as mutants who develop powers. One of them, Xavier, opened a school to give them a place to call home – I’m sure you can understand that not all parents would be understanding.”

“No, they wouldn’t.” Carrie felt her heart was in her throat. Kids with powers, some whose families had mistreated them and cast them out. They were like her. Could Carrie have found out about the one school she could just be a normal student at? A place where kids her age might like her?

“Am I a mutant?”

“You tested negative for the X-gene.” Agent Romanoff said. “It’s possible you’re part of a new branch.”

“I –, “ Carrie stopped. The scanner set to locate the Tesseract went off. Bruce immediately went to check the screen and see the results.

“You located the Tesseract?” Thor asked, following Agent Romanoff to join Bruce at the screen.

“I can get there faster.” Tony said.

“The Tesseract belongs on Asgard.” Thor turned to him sternly. “No human is a match for it.”

The billionaire was already moving to get his Iron Man suit, but Steve grabbed his arm. “You’re not going alone.”

Tony jerked his arm away. “What, you’re going to stop me?”

“Put on the suit, let’s find –“

“STOP IT!” Carrie snapped. She wasn’t sure where all the distress was coming from, why she felt like crying. Was it finding out about Professor X’s school, the Scepter messing with her mind, or the way she woke up and how the arguing just kept on and on and on? “I don’t want to hear this anymore. If you can’t stop arguing, then just get away from the Scepter! Leave the room, just go!”

She didn’t notice how the furniture shook, both men looked wary and slightly regretful now.

“Ms. White.” Director Fury warned. “Take a breather.”

Bruce said something but Carrie didn’t catch it – and then everything exploded.

* * *

The initial blast flung her backward into the Scepter’s table as everyone else in the room was tossed aside. The teenager heard the crash of shattering glass, felt the bite of shards digging into her skin, and heard alarms blare.

Everything was murky for a few minutes, and slowly, Carrie was able to regain focus. She whimpered as her forehead pulsed painfully and carefully sat up. Seeing the Scepter nearby, the girl reached over and grabbed it. It seemed the explosion had tossed her through the window – but instead of falling below, she sailed right over the dip and onto the grating above the lower level.

Where was everyone else?

“ **YOUR _LIFE_**?!” The deep, gravelly voice screamed below. Carrie felt the dread pool up in her stomach as she turned on her stomach and looked through the holes in the grating.

It was Black Widow and Bruce. . . turning _green_.

She pushed herself up, ignoring the urge to vomit and looked for any handholes she could use to pry a section of the floor open. Black Widow was slim enough, and the panels large enough, the only one would be needed. It hurt to focus though.

The Scepter hummed and Carrie let herself be taken in by it. The pain in her head faded away and the girl used that moment of clarity to pry an opening in the floor with her powers.

Romanoff looked up at the sound, and for the first time since Carrie met her, the woman’s face was easy to read. The Black Widow was terrified, relieved, and close to tears as Bruce’s transformation continued. Carrie reached out for the Power, the Scepter’s humming an encouraging background noise and lifted the debris pinning Black Widow’s foot. The redhead rolled out and the teenager let it drop as she psychically grabbed onto the older woman and pulled her to relative safety.

The agent was just pulling her legs up through the hole when the Hulk roared. Carrie realized, in the split second they had, his focus was on them.

She reacted.

Black Widow was throwed upward, back into the lab (Carrie hoped she didn’t get impaled with any glass, but there wasn’t time to check) and the girl opened her mind further to the Scepter and the humming evolved into outright singing. It was wordless and empowering and devastatingly beautiful. Dangerous.

It saw what she wanted and let her have it.

Carrie zoomed forward, holding onto the Scepter as the Hulk smashed through the floor, only his upper body fitting, and zeroed in on her. He used precious seconds to try and squeeze himself up, before defaulting to smashing his way through the floor to follow her.

He was _fast_.

Carrie kept flinging herself forward, the Scepter adding a much-needed boost of power and barely kept herself ahead of the Hulk, frantically thinking on what she could do.

The Scepter specialized in minds, could she show him something to calm down? On her own, she would be too weak, but with this giving her an energy boost. . .

What else could she do? Carrie wasn’t sure if the Scepter would protect her heart from the devastating stress that would hit her from taking on the Hulk. Working with his mind was the safer option.

They were reaching the end of the hall and Carrie spotted workers who wouldn’t be able to escape in time. She reacted impulsively, doing a hard U-turn, and using her mind to tear open the wall in her way as the Hulk grabbed a hold of the level dividing them and used it to slow his momentum. This caused the floor below Carrie to peel back like tin foil, and he saw her go through her hastily made exit above him. The SHIELD employees were narrowly spared, able to pressed themselves to the side to avoid shrapnel.

On the other side of the wall was the hanger for all of the Helicarrier’s smaller vessels. The workers immediately started running when the Hulk tore through the wall seconds after her, making it through in one jump.

Carrie kept the debris from flying past her where it could injury the SHIELD employees and tried to connect to the Hulk. It was hard because he kept trying to grab her, forcing the teenager to keep her distance. If he got his hands on her, she was dead.

The girl called on the Scepter’s Song and, for lack of a better word, _smacked_ the Hulk in the face with it as he picked up one of the smaller planes to throw at her. It didn’t hurt him in any way, but it did get his attention, he tossed the aircraft away, groaned.

Yes!

Carrie pulled on her scant happy memories, hoping it would encourage Bruce to recall his own, but to her surprised the Scepter’s Song pulled deeper. The moment of distraction nearly cost her, but Carrie quickly threw herself back into her task before the Hulk could attack again.

The power was the song and her intent the lyrics, a story to weave into the melody. Carrie found herself not just pulling on memories from the last month but from her life in Chamberlain. Everything in her said that this was what she needed to do.

The Hulk _Saw_.

_Images of a small closet, with the blood-stained crucifix on its wall. He smelled the harsh stench of human filth and bitter salty tears, as Carrie tried to push herself into a corner away from where she’d been forced to urinate and feceate. Margaret White opens the closet only to beat her, and Carrie can only clean herself after the closet is “tided” in her mother’s words, and the girl makes one more prayer for forgiveness._

Carrie then _Sees_ an angry man bearing a strong resemblance to Bruce yelling and screaming at a woman who barely comes to his shoulder. The girl notes that Mrs. Banner passed on her eyes to her son as Mr. Banner suddenly sinks a knife into her ribcage.

There is pain and rage and grief; memories of warm hugs and quiet, tearful mutterings of ‘it’s going to be okay’ even though Bruce had long since realized his mother is lying. Carrie smells cinnamon rolls.

The Hulk is looking at her now, not charging and Carrie pulls out Prom Night and ties that in too, along with the pain, regret and _howcouldIbesostupid_?

 **‘I know.’** Carrie _Says_. **‘I know; being alive can hurt so much.’**

She knew what it was like.

The girl held her breathe as the Hulk started to shrin-

There was a hand around her throat, the Scepter fell from her grasp as Carrie was swung up into the air. The Song shattered.

No.

“This ends now Loki.”

Thor? Carrie looked at the Asgardian prince, terrified and confused as she grasped his wrist, wheezing. She tried to speak, to ask him why, when he spoke again.

“Brother, you will break any enchantment you’ve placed upon the mortal and cease this now.”

He thought she was Loki? How? Then Carrie remembered her time at the lab – how she absently heard Tony mention Loki changing his suit in a shimmering light to his Asgardian garb. Loki had powers – Thor squeezed when she didn’t speak fast enough. This may not be anything but a slap across the head to Loki, but she was _suffering_.

“Thor!” Carrie choked. “I’m not –“

The Hulk’s roar drowned out her pleas. The Crown Prince looked up to see the green berserker more than twice his size bearing down on him and tossed Carrie to the side to confront him with both free hands.

She landed harshly on her side as Hulk pushed Thor back through the opening Carrie had made to get in the hanger. There was a muffled crack and she cried out in pain, her _wrist_. Her headache returned something fierce and she couldn’t make the effort to get up. The Scepter’s humming was nearby at least but everything was blurring together. She barely noticed the people gathering around her.

* * *

Loki was. . . displeased with the damage the girl looked to have suffered. There were bruises on her neck and a bloody gash on her forehead along with several cuts. One of her wrists appeared to have suffered damage as well. He would need to ensure the girl was seen by a healer before he delivered her. Thanos would likely want her with minimal damage.

The plan was working perfectly at least.

Thor had always been easy to predict – sending one of the men to him with a story of Loki fighting the Hulk was simple and casting an illusion on Carrietta to take on his appearance even simpler.

Alas, he had overestimated her durability. Mortals were so fragile.

Even so, she was alive and the mortals under his command were prepping her for the journey. He cast a minor spell to make them uninteresting and indistinguishable to decrease any delays and sent them off.

He returned to his former cell, Scepter in hand. Once Thor was humbled, everyone would be in place for the final confrontation.

 ~~Loki didn’t want to stay near the energy the girl had unleashed. He had received a few images as a backlash effect of the shared memories and what he saw sicken him~~. The mortals of Midgard would soon have the king they deserved. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you all enjoyed this. I wanted to give Carrie a chance to shine without making her too overpowered. She's still dealing with lingering weakness from stalling Loki's arrival on Earth and the Scepter (Mind Stone) gave her the boost she needed to think clearly. That being said, Carrie is not ready to fight the Hulk head on and she's smart enough to know this, hence her battle plan is basically: run for my life, keep him away from other people, and try to calm him down. If she wasn't able to do that last bit, Carrie was going try her best to keep damage to the Helicarrier at a minimum and the Hulk away from any SHIELD personnel. All of this with the firm belief she might not survive.
> 
> In my fic Carrie currently has the raw mental power to be on par with Professor X, as far as psychic powers go, she'll be the strongest bar Jean Grey's Phoenix Force (though not defenseless against it, of the younger telepath generations. Much like M'gann having more power than her uncle J'onn, though initially lacking the skill and control (Young Justice). Carrie is only going to get stronger from here on out, but her past and trauma will always interfere with her tapping into her full potential to some degree.
> 
> All this said, while Carrie's raw mental power will be very impressive it isn't going to be her specialty. She'll be decent in healing minds, creating mind links, and all that stuff - but much of her potential is wrapped up in one specific ability that is indirectly the cause of her excessive power in the first place. That ability will be revealed later.
> 
> Also, Loki wasn't expecting Carrie to take on the Hulk, so he did some quick thinking and manipulated his brother into solving the problem for him. He wanted to take her when no one was looking and let SHIELD assume he would only be interested in reclaiming the Scepter. This trick also kept the heavy hitter occupied as a plus. By the time anyone realizes he came for Carrie too, he'll be gone.


	10. There Was This Idea

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know, I know. I'm later than usual in my update. Many apologies. Christmas shopping online and other distractions. 
> 
> Hope you enjoy.

Tony absently looked at the people gathered around the table. Everyone except Romanoff and her buddy Legolas were present. Musclehead was currently brooding with regret in the corner, a self-imposed time out.

Boohoo. Tony wasn’t feeling charitable after Musclehead fell for Loki’s trick twice and got himself and Bruce dumped from the Helicarrier in the Hulk cage. If he hadn’t noticed the eject, Hulk might have killed Thor before they ever landed. The Iron Man suit suffered for the save, and blondie needed to carry both men back to the Helicarrier. Even Hulk could be knocked out – he reverted back to Bruce after landing face first into Musclehead’s hammer.

Their ride was operational again, but many agents were dead, and others injured. The ship itself had taken massive damage from the Hulk and Thor duking it out with several systems down. Tony already had some notes on his phone for improvements on the next Helicarrier model, same for the Iron Man suit to counter the scenarios that screwed them over so badly.

Phil was on the dead list and Carrie missing – no one could find her. Thor had left her in the hanger after being attacked by the Hulk, when she’d been guised to look like his brother. The Scepter was also MIA, it wasn’t hard to figure how the most likely scenario. Loki had all but said it to Thor’s face as he gloated about his near victory.

The billionaire recalled his first impression of the kid – he had never seen such a beaten down person in his life. There was a sense of almost-defeat about her and just plain exhaustion, like her vitality had been wrung out. Carrie was definitely a teenager but the invisible lines on her face from a life of stress and fear all but spelled out she wasn’t a kid in the ways she should be. There were times Carrie seemed to stare at nothing at all.

In sharp contrast to that, there was also a... timid kind of hope in her eyes whenever she spoke to someone.

Capisicle noticed it too and looked awkwardly at the kid which she was sharp enough to note and be uncomfortable with. Subtlety wasn’t Tony’s preferred method, but he was smart enough to know it was needed sometimes.

Then Fury came up to them, messing with something in his hands.

“Any news?” Bruce asked, from where he sat slumped over the table next to Tony. A mug of very strong coffee sat by his elbow half empty.

The Super Spy was grim, he didn’t beat around the bush.

“Loki has Ms. White and the Scepter.” Miniature screens opened up in the table, and showed Loki grabbing the Scepter as his lackeys, disguised in SHIELD gear, moved Carrie onto the stretcher.

“They came prepared.” Bruce muttered.

“Why though? If Carrie was a threat that he wanted gone he could have just killed her, why take her alive? What does he need her for?” Steve said.

“Her synchronization to the Cube and the Scepter no doubt, but what aren’t we seeing?” Tony said. “How is it important? It seems like Loki has enough of a handle on the glowstick and Selvig has the portal covered.”

“I find it interesting that she was not enthralled.” Thor spoke up for the first time. “My brother could have done that as well; he is not one to let an advantage go without reason. Considering her link to it, perhaps he did not want to risk a backlash.”

“It might not even work on her.” Steve acknowledged.

“We’re dead in the air up here.” Fury was looking at whatever he had in his hands again. Tony was mildly curious now but didn’t have the energy to bother him about it. “No communications. Ms. White, the Tesseract – we got nothing. Dr. Banner?”

“The Cube was tracked to North America, but everything went crazy before the tracker could pinpoint the location. The tracker itself is destroyed.” Bruce sighed. “It would take too long to build another with what I have left.”

“I see.” Fury tossed what he was holding onto the table. There was a soft smack and Tony went numb as he saw the bloodstained Captain America trading cards on the table. “Those were in Phil Coulson’s jacket. Guess he never did get you to sign them.”

Steve reached over and grabbed the one whose top corner was caked in drying blood. He looked at it duly.

“I lost my one good eye, and maybe I had that coming.” Fury sighed. “Yes. SHIELD was planning make weapons with the Tesseract. I never put all my chips in that basket though, because I was playing something risker. There was an idea, Stark knows this, to bring together a team of remarkable people called the Avengers Initiative. A team that would fight the battles, we never could.” He had rounded the table at this point and stopped near Tony.

He didn’t look up as Fury tossed a book in front of him – the Harry Potter book Carrie had been reading. On top of it, were blank pages that must have been torn from the book, with rough sketches of pants and a jacket. Scribbled near each were little annotations – ideas to make the pants stretchy and durable enough for Bruce and including hidden pockets in the jacket for Tony if he needed them. It had been done in pen – some of the ink was smudged.

“Phil Coulson died, believing in that idea. Carrie White? She felt it could be a way to do good with her life and be the hope in the world she never saw growing up. Its why Ms. White gave life another chance, I suppose.”

Tony stood up and left. He couldn’t stay, he couldn’t.

They watched him go.

“Well.” Fury said softly. “It was old fashioned.”

Bruce, sharp eyed, plucked the torn pages from the table and stared at them for a moment – then he got up and followed Tony. Fury and Hill watched the briefing empty itself as the other men followed suit.

The Director of SHIELD folded his hands behind his back – he had played his cards; all he could do now was wait.

* * *

Natasha Romanoff poured a cup of water for her partner, the stillness of her expression giving her away. Clint knew her better than anyone at SHIELD – was the reason she had a chance to clear the red from her ledger. He was hard to fool.

She didn’t bother to deny it when he asked what was wrong.

“I have red in my ledger,” Natasha said ambiguously, but Clint was familiar with the fluctuations and tone of her voice. He knew the ‘red’ was not someone she needed to wipe out, but a debt she owed.

“Who?”

“That kid Fury brought a month ago. Carrie White got me out of the Hulk’s path and led him away.”

It was grating on many levels – Black Widows should not need saving, if one did, they were weak and wouldn’t survive. Survival was the ultimate goal for the Red Room’s potential Widows. They had ingrained perfectionism into all of the girls, tangled the drive for success and desire to please superiors into their self-worth. All of them, Natasha included, ate it up – in the end they were just kids who wanted approval from their caretakers and knew the only way to get it was to be the best Black Widow they could be and then better.

There was also the fact that Carrie White had no training and was still not cleared by her therapist for combat scenarios. That traumatized girl had stepped up when Natasha should have against the _Hulk_. If Loki hadn’t wanted her alive, Hulk could have killed her directly or indirectly, and Bruce would have been forced to live with it.

Yes, the assassin knew there was virtually nothing she could do to stop the Hulk without highly specialized gear, but that was beside the point. Now the kid was gone – and taken by Loki who, in Stark’s words, had scrambled Clint’s mind. She owed the Asgardian dearly.

Clint was impressed. “She has more nerve than I thought.”

“Loki has her and the Scepter.” Natasha preferred to get bad news over with than prolong the inevitable. “She’s going to need it.”

Her partner lost his grin, and she felt a little stab of guilt.

“Was she banged up when he grabbed her?”

The report gave Natasha a chance to gather herself, so she briefed her partner ~~best friend and brother of her heart~~ on the circumstances of Carrie White’s capture. Thor had left visible bruises but there was no way to know of any internal damage with the girl in enemy hands. Luckily ~~or unluckily~~ Loki seemed to want her in good condition, if the prepared stretcher and medics was anything to go on. It was likely he would have any serious injuries treated.

Clint said nothing at first, just sat back and she could see the gears in his head turning as he mulled over their situation.

“Well, this is bad.”

No shit. The assassin huffed under her breath and untied her partner’s restraints as a communication started outside the room. Both agents looked at each other as the door slammed open. Stark stood in the doorway, looking simultaneously annoyed and pleased.

“That son of a bitch is opening the portal over my tower! Get ready to head out, we’re kicking his ass and getting Carrie back!”

Steve Rogers appeared at Stark’s shoulder – he noticed Clint and looked to Natasha, who nodded. Meanwhile, Stark finally noticed the freed agent.

“How did you reboot his brain?” He demanded. “His eyes aren’t glowing creepy blue anymore.”

“I hit him hard in the head.’ Natasha said dryly.

‘Hm,” Stark nodded thoughtfully. “Well, it is a tried and true method. Congrats on getting your mind back and not looking like a zombie anymore. Power nap help?”

Clint was more amused than anything. “It was definitely the power nap. Loki is an asshole, didn’t let me or Selvig sleep.”

Natasha stiffened.

“You’ve been under his control for days. . .” Rogers said slowly.

Clint nodded. “Yep.”

Stark whistled. “Well, there’s a line but you’ll get your knuckles bloody like the rest of us.”

“I’d actually prefer putting an arrow through his eye.” Hawkeye admitted grimly.

“Of course, of course,” Stark said. “You have your own thing, I understand.”

 _Eventually,_ the banter stopped, and everyone went their own way to prepare for the battle ahead.

Natasha would not fail this time.

* * *

When Carrie woke up, the first thing she registered was how she couldn’t move. A few minutes of wiggling around helped her realize she was tied down to something a little soft. Everything was foggy though, and Carrie had a hard time focusing. She closed her eyes and felt a little better, the fogginess wasn’t so bad as long as her eyes stayed closed.

“Her injuries?”

“A broken wrist, some severe bruising around her throat and collarbone. Speaking will be uncomfortable for a while. I sug-“

The conversation faded out, as a familiar and very welcomed humming vibrated in her head, easing the ache. There was a poking, prodding presence too and Carrie let it grab hold of her mind.

The Tesseract and the Scepter. If they were here than that meant –

Loki? Was he here? What happened?

Carrie, as much as she tried, couldn’t recall exactly what happened after Thor dropped her. She knew that the fact she was tied up, and the Tesseract was near the Scepter, meant things weren’t looking good for her.

Why take her though? Just having her here was a risk, Loki knew she could at least stall the opening of the portal. There was no immediate reason why he would risk that just to have her here. He could have left her at a base so why?

“Carrietta, you shouldn’t be awaking up yet.” Loki said softly to her right. The soothing tones he used weren’t remotely comforting whatsoever. “I can sense the Stones reacting to your mind, you can’t fool me, Carrietta. Sleep now. Your new Master is waiting for you and you’ll need all the rest you can get.”

There was a sharp pricking in between her eyes that quickly went numb and Carrie’s grip on consciousness slipped before the horror of what he was saying could sink in.

She fell back into the fog.

* * *

The suit would get him to the tower, but Tony knew he wouldn’t be able to fight in it. He needed to swap for another before going toe to toe with Reindeer Games.

Bruce – who didn’t need armor or anything remotely like it to protect himself – was standing nearby as he suited up. The doc looked troubled, so Tony poked at him.

“What’s with the glum face Mr. Green. . . besides the obvious.”

The gamma scientist’s expression didn’t lighten up. “Remember what Thor said about Loki’s army?”

“About it being one of the deadliest armies in the realms known?” Tony asked, ignoring the feeling of apprehension. He knew the odds weren’t in their favor – the portal would probably be opened before they could stop it.

“Thor said that the Chitauri were lent to Loki to conquer Earth in return for the Tesseract.” Bruce said slowly. “What if they included Carrie into that deal?”

“Wait? What?”

“Think about it Tony. All the things we’ve overheard from Loki and Thor imply that Carrie is the first mortal – or person period – to communicate with the Tesseract and the Scepter’s power source in a way that allows for conversation. We still have no idea how her powers originated, and Agent Romanoff already confirmed Carrie tested negative as a mutant.”

“She could have been lying.” Tony pointed out. Much like Nick Fury was THE Spy, Natasha Romanoff was THE Master Assassin and Liar.

“I don’t think so. Look, my point is that Carrie is rare and unknown – she outright said that the Tesseract considers her a novelty and its probably ancient. So, it stands to reason that Loki’s benefactor would want someone that rare in their control.”

The possible scenarios weren’t pleasant; Carrie could be brainwashed, beaten until she broke, or experimented on to study her ability. Knowledge was power. It was one of the few things Tony agreed with his asshole father about.

Bruce, for his part, was well acquainted with the danger of being on the receiving end of that belief with no one to protect his interests. Fuck General Ross.

“We need to get her back.” Tony muttered. “I know doc.”

“We will.”

Annnnnnd there was Captain America in the doorway, in all his star-spangled glory. He also wasn’t glaring, huh, guess their emotional heart to heart hour did more than just narrow down Carrie’s location.

“It’s time to go, Dr. Banner.” Steve said seriously.

The gamma scientist nodded, shook Tony’s hand, and left the room. Captain took a moment to nod at him before leaving too.

Okay. It was time to get going.

"JARVIS. Get me online, will you."


	11. Earth's Mightiest Heroes

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone. My apologies for the wait but I'm here now. I bring you the Battle of New York!

It was the sound of shattering glass and something heavy flying over her head that woke Carrie up again.

“Close the portal Loki!”

There was a half-deranged laughter in response. “There’s no stopping it now brother! Let’s see if Mjölnir can stand against this!”

Angry buzzing punctured with the odd sound of a... bell? What was making that sound? It was lovely and clear – musical.

“Carrie? Kid! C’mon Sleeping Beauty, wake up.”

Someone was undoing the straps keeping her tied down. Carrie opened her eyes – her vision was bleary, like she hadn’t gotten enough sleep. Tony was staring down at her.

“Tony?” She muttered hoarsely, as the last strap was unbuckled. “Who ar-?”

“Don’t make this worst by reminding me you can’t even name one of the first Disney Princesses.”

Disney princesses? Tony mentioned something about that on the Helicarrier. The older man was pulling at her arm, so she sat up, wincing at the ache in her head.

“Everything is foggy.” She put her hands to her aching throat, speaking hurt a little. “Loki wouldn’t let me stay awake. W-where are we?”

“Stark Tower.” Tony scowled. “That diva wanted to use my tower for his opening night.”

Despite the situation, Carrie couldn’t help but smile a bit at his tone. He just sounded so offended that someone would dare try to upstage him with his own tower.

**_“Sir. Preparations are ready and the Chitauri are coming through.”_ **

“Excellent. Carrie, you stay here. Jarvis, look after her.”

**_“Of course, Sir.”_ **

He suited up; the new armor launched as a pod that focused on the bracelets around his wrists. Once it wrapped itself around him, the billionaire was off.

**_“Ms. White, I suggest you step back from the windows. You are still disoriented.”_ **

Carrie obeyed, and leaned against the legs of a piano set to the back of the room. She breathed in and out, feeling the Tesseract’s excess power whooshing down past her from the portal. Remembering how the Scepter had helped clear her mind, Carrie let herself shut everything else out and focused solely on the excess energy the portal emanated. It seemed to smooth away the mild throbbing of her head, clear her focus. It wasn’t doing anything for her throat or the painful bruising on it and her collarbone, but Carrie could cope.

Then one of the windows shattered and her eyes flew open.

There was. . . someone ~~something?~~ standing in the pen house and looking right at her.

It was reptilian, but with a humanoid body that had mostly been replaced with machinery. She could see the little lights and glints of metal in how the armor connected.

 ** _“The first of the Chitauri got past Mr. Stark, I’m afraid.”_** JARVIS said coolly. **_“Please be prepared to defend yourself Ms. White, I will assist. The remaining Avengers are in the city below.”_**

She got to her feet, mind reaching for the Power as the Chitauri screeched and ran for her, hand outstretched with intent.

There was a familiar sound behind her and suddenly an Iron Man suit soared from the right and shot the Chitauri in the face, ruining half of it. She grimaced as the exposed eyeball swiveled around in its socket, grey liquid dribbling from the gaping hole with shredded brain matter.

The Iron Man suit grabbed the ruined head and an arm, before pulling violently and ripping the offender apart.

Carrie swallowed hard as the Iron Man suit that had stood behind her, stepped up. She didn’t feel anyone in those suits.

 ** _“I am in control of these suits, Ms. White, there is nothing to fear.”_** JARVIS reassured. **_“Please keep your attention on our uninvited guests.”_**

Multiple Chitauri started coming into the penthouse, smashing the glass and upturning furniture. Carrie heard thunder boom outside, despite the day being sunny and clear.

Carrie grabbed a hold of her Power and _twisted_.

The two Chitauri coming at her crashed into her each other, as if someone had clapped their hands together and trapped them in between. Carrie didn’t waste a moment and shoved both out the window. JAVRIS used the Iron Men to dismantle the attackers with precise lethalness.

This went on for a few minutes – many, many Chitauri invaded the penthouse, focus solely trained on her, and were ripped apart for their trouble. At one point, Carrie mentally scooped up a handful of them and smashed the aliens into the floor hard enough that multiple somethings audibly cracked. She had quickly decided against throwing them out the window again when she realized they could hit people below – but the bodies were starting to pile up. Carrie hoped she hadn’t inadvertently hurt anyone.

JARVIS noticed the pile up too – one of the suits grabbed her and the three of them escaped out the broken windows before they could be trapped. Carrie watched in horror at the amount of destruction. In this brief moment of calm, she could _feel_ the minds of people fading, abruptly disappearing, and stuttering to a halt. In the brief moment of calm when she wasn’t fighting for her life, Carrie could feel the deaths of thousands.

She took a deep breath, and exhaled, as JARVIS piloted the suit away from Stark Tower. Chiaturi were following them. How could she best help?

Carrie could see everyone who was slanted for the Avengers Initiative – including Hawkeye(?) – were fighting off the Chitauri and keeping the army from advancing. The city’s cops seemed to be helping as much as they could, focusing on people caught in the crossfire.

If she had kept the portal closed against Loki, she could do the same here. Director Fury had all but outright said it to her face that she was their ace in case the portal opened. Carrie was worried that she wouldn’t be able to keep it closed though. The Tesseract, while amiable to her request, would need to be disconnected from the machine first. Even from where she and JARVIS were fighting off Chitauri, she could see the portal machine surrounding by a flickering dome. That wasn’t even getting into the sheer amount of willpower and energy it would take to slam the door on an entire army.

What other option did they have though?

**_“Ms. White.”_ **

She looked up and saw the second Iron Man suit was holding something out to her. A commlink. Deputy Hill had taught her about them, and Carrie hurried to place it in her ear. She fumbled with actually opening the communications but managed in the end.

** “Hey kid.”  ** _Tony_

** “Tony? Where are -?” **

** “Currently, I’m trying to lose some stalkers. Just checking on you.” **

**“Fine. I – uh, I’m going to head back to Stark Tower, try to close the portal.”** Carrie looked back to the Tower. There wasn’t as many Chitauri lingering there. They seemed to want to spread out and cause as much destruction as possible. She and JARVIS could keep themselves safe from the ones that would go after them, she was sure. One of the other Avengers could step in, if need be.

** “There’s a force field around that machine kid.” **

** “I can probably break through it.” **

** “. . . Okay, given your track record with these things you probably could. Stay sharp though. Bruce thinks that Loki’s boss is interested in you – demanded you be delivered as part of the deal they made.” **

She just couldn’t catch a break, could she?

 **“Thanks for the warning. . .”** The teen then noticed something Very Bad.

Loki. He was on one of the Chitauri floating. . . transport . . . thing(?) and was heading right for them.

 **“Loki is heading this way. Got to go.”** Carrie gulped. As she took her hand off the button that would let them hear her, she caught Captain America’s voice – something about providing cover.

 ** _“I am commencing evasive maneuvers, Ms. White.”_** JARVIS sounded grim. **_“Please attempt to refrain from becoming ill and continue to engage.”_**

The second suit fired several missiles at Loki – roughly half of them hit him and the others exploded before impact, creating a thick cloud of smoke. They flew.

Carrie did her best to keep the Chitauri off them as JARVIS spun, twisted, and turned in midair. At one point she was thrown to the other suit, so the first could have a turn at attacking Loki. Tony was saying something over the com, but the teen didn’t want to spread her attention any more than it already was.

The Chitauri were relentless, and eventually swarmed the first Iron Man suit and ripped it apart. Loki used the Scepter to throw energy blasts at them, but Carrie managed to deflect them at the Chitauri. She risked a moment and pressed the commlink back on.

 **“Tony! Help, need help!”** She yelled. **“Someone!”**

 **“I got you.”** A calm, familiar voice said. Agent Barton. _Hawkeye_.

They were getting closer to Stark Tower by this point. Carrie looked behind her and saw Loki take a moment to catch an arrow. He looked smug. . . until it started beeping and exploded in his face. The God of Mischief was flung back into the penthouse. Another arrow hit one of the Chitauri and an electrical charge took it out, including the ones unfortunate enough to be too close.

“JARVIS, get me to the portal please.”

The Iron Man suit did as she requested. Carrie listened in and found that the Hulk was heading this way. She could see him getting closer and decided to let him do what he was going to do so she could focus on the portal.

Mr. Selvig was nearby, unconscious. The teen asked JARVIS to get him somewhere safe – there was blood on his forehead and right side of his face. He seemed to have hit himself hard and she was worried about a concussion.

 ** _“Ms. White, I was given explicit instructions from Mr. Stark not to leave you unattended.”_** JARVIS said, which was more or less a ‘no’. Carrie was about to protest but the AI continued before she could say anything. **_“Mr. Stark ensured that I am up to date on first aid. I can attend to him here and will provide necessary protection. Please proceed.”_**

She wasn’t changing his mind. Carrie turned her attention to the machine – she could see the flickering lights of the force field and cautiously pressed her hands to it. The vibration against her palms reminded her of the Scepter, which was now a calm humming in the back of her mind.

Wait. The Scepter was _humming_. Did that mean. . .

Carrie walked away from the machine and followed her mental compass – there, on the balcony leading into the penthouse, was the Scepter. Loki must have lost his grip on it. The drop wasn’t that far so Carrie floated down to grab the Scepter, guilty ignoring JARVIS’ protest, and grabbed ahold of it. The Hulk happened to arrive at that exact moment.

She looked up at him, wide eyed in awe and he looked down at her. Carrie offered a smile and a wave after a moment of awkward silence.

“Little girl.” The Hulk rumbled. “Where is puny god?”

Carrie blinked.

“Uh. If you mean Loki, I think he’s still in the penthouse.”

The Hulk seemed pleased. “Hulk pay him back. Little girl take glowing stick and stop puny invaders.”

Carrie nodded and floated back up to the roof.

 ** _“Ms. White.”_** JARVIS admonished when she arrived. **_“You must be –“_**

The roof shook and they both heard the Hulk roaring. It sounded like he was slamming something against something else in the penthouse. Carrie almost felt bad for Loki but was relieved that she didn’t have to worry about him too.

JARVIS didn’t question it – he could probably see what was happening anyway. Carrie lifted the Scepter in her hands and thought about how to approach this.

She remembered the energy boast it had given her back when stalling the Hulk. If she could bring out the Song again, it could be enough to break the barrier. It could even be enough to fully close the portal instead of holding it shut for a short time.

 **“Everyone. I’m going to try closing the portal.”** Carrie warned into the comms as the Hulk jumped onto the roof. It shook a little.

 **“Copy that. Go ahead Carrie, we need to cut them off.”** Captain America said.

The teen took a deep breath and opened her mind to the Scepter again, mentally calling out to the Song.

It responded almost eagerly, and Carrie offered up her thoughts and feelings as lyrics; the desire and plea, and prayer to please, _please,_ close this door. Slam it shut on the Chitauri. Save the people that could still be saved.

The Song rose in pitch and it was beautiful and devasting and she channeled all of that into herself and then out again, into the shield and it crumbled into blue ash. Carrie didn’t stop and grabbed a hold of the Cube with her bare hand, let herself become a conduit for the Song.

The Cube reacted and Carrie could see, behind her eyelids a vast blackness with distant stars the only natural light. A huge ship floated in the vastness, birthing Chitauri after Chitauri into the emptiness to get through the open door.

She felt it – all of the invaders’ minds were linked to something at that ship. It was the heart of a predator’s web and if that central pillar collapsed everything else would follow.

Carrie almost absently shut the door and the machine groaned as it cracked and snapped under the Tesseract abruptly refusing to comply. The psychic backlash made it collapse, but the Cube itself rested safely in the palm of her hand. Carrie brought it close to her heart, still watching the Chiaturi she shut off fluttering around like confused bees at an entrance that no longer existed.

The ship needed to go; it would end everything quicker. Without the portal, the distance between the Chitauri stuck on Earth were too distant to maintain a proper connection. Their movements became jerky, their mental state more aggressive. More people would die if they tried to end this the slow way.

 **“Shit.”** Tony said into her ear. It didn’t break her tranquil calm and Carrie listened with detached interest.

 **“What is it Stark?”** Agent Romanoff.

** “The WSC got trigger happy and sent a nuke. Its heading straight for Manhattan. Those bastards couldn’t have waited five more minutes, could they?”  **

There was much cursing. Carrie regarded the dilemma and smiled to herself. This was perfect, like killing two birds with one stone. She would need to time this carefully though. Carrie could have opened a portal right in front of the nuke but it was too far away, if she did so now she’d have to loosen her grip on the Song and she _needed_ it to influence the Cube the way required. Her range while juggling both power sources just wasn’t enough.

So, she said the only thing she could. Offered the only solution she could think of with minimal risks.

** “Send it to me. I’ll take care of it.” **

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The next chapter will likely be the last one for this first book. I can't believe I wrote this all so fast. There will be another part of the series coming next but not Book Two, more like an interquel.


	12. Portals

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here it is! The ending of Book One! Get ready for a twist at the end!

They were resistant, at first. Very hesitant; but in the end everyone acknowledged that it was the best solution. Tony guided the nuke to Stark Tower as Carrie prepared herself. Her heart was beating loudly in her chest, her blood felt red hot underneath her skin, like flames were licking against it.

She was burning. Her thoughts felt strange, not entirely her own.

Tony was in sight now – Carrie licked her lips. The tranquil certainty was a bit singed now, she was nervous but still fully committed to the act. This was New York’s only hope.

The Song rose up in pitch smoothly and the lyrics she provided poked a hole into the fabric of Here, to tear a hole that led to There.

 **“Carrie, what the hell is that?”** Tony sounded like he was trying not to panic and only half succeeding. She had opened the portal directly over the ship, so there wouldn’t be any chance of missing their target.

 **“I guess you could call it the main control center. We’re going to kill two birds with one stone. I can feel the Chitauri minds connected to it. If it goes, they do too.”** Carrie replied, trying not to sway. What was wrong? Was she doing too much too fast?

** “A Mothership, huh? Okay kid, I’m getting ready to let go.” **

That was when the Chitauri still on Earth reminded the heroes of their presence.

 ** _“Incoming.”_** JARVIS warned. Every Chitauri in the vicinity was changing course to their location. The Hulk growled but seemed to be more annoyed than scared.

 **“Thor! Get up there!”** Captain America shouted. Some of the invaders started to target Tony. If they went for the nuke everyone was done for.

Things quickly became chaotic, and Carrie did her best to protect herself as the Hulk and JARVIS kept the Chitauri occupied on their sides. Thor went to help Tony but had to rely on brute force – no one wanted the nuke being hit by thunder and lightning.

Then finally, Tony guided the nuke through an opening of the attackers that Thor made for him. JARVIS covered his back and his creator disappeared into the portal with the nuke.

Carrie didn’t breath a sign of relief, she moved, grasping the Scepter tighter, pressing the Cube against her chest, and pulled the portal back. She could see Tony being pushed from the nuke as he gave it a shove forward.

She needed to act no –

Pain. Burning pain. Her arm.

The Hulk screamed in wordless rage and crushed the Chitauri that shot the Scepter from Carrie’s hold. The teen fell to her knees but didn’t release the vision. Tony was too close to the blast, if she didn’t pull him back, he wouldn’t survive the injuries.

The Scepter’s humming was distance – had it fallen? There wasn’t time to _See_ , she needed to act.

So, Carrie reached for that last bit of willpower and shoved the portal forward – it reached Tony and he fell through, back into New York as the portal closed. The flames of the Mothership’s destruction barely brushed the billionaire and JARVIS dived after his creator to save him.

Carrie White didn’t see any of this though. In that moment of Tony falling through the portal she pushed to save him, of closing it after him, her heart finally had enough. There was no Scepter to act as a buffer, and she didn’t have the spare power or knowledge on how to use the Cube to save herself.

The sixteen-year-old girl collapsed on the spot, dead before she hit the floor.

* * *

Tony didn’t know how he was still conscious – it had all happened too fast to completely process in the heat of the moment. Everything after the portal had taken less than a minute.

**_“Sir?”_ **

“I’m fine J.” Tony rubbed the back of his neck; they were in front of Stark Tower. JARVIS hovered nearby, very much in worrybot mode.

The sky above them rumbled darkly and Tony immediately tensed.

“Lord Stark!”

Tony looked up to see Thor and the Hulk coming in hot. He and JARVIS dove out of the way as the two heavy hitters landed. Thor was carrying a feebly moving Dr. Selvig. The billionaire playboy felt the inside of his mouth turn to ash when he saw Hulk was carrying the Tesseract and a limp, pale Carrie.

The suit detected no life signs in her.

“She collapsed after the portal closed!” Thor said urgently as Hulk allowed Tony to take the small corpse from his arms and lay it on the ground.

 ** _“She was forced to release the Scepter during the attack.”_** JAVRIS said solemnly. **_“Without it to make up for the difference. . . the portal was too much for her heart.”_**

Indeed, Carrie’s right arm was burnt nastily on the forearm and elbow, in addition to the broken wrist.

No. He was Tony fricking Stark, he was not taking this laying down.

“Find the Scepter and get me the Cube! I have an idea!” Tony snapped as he started doing compressions. Thor swung Mjølnir and was pulled back to the tower’s roof. The normal way may not work but on the off chance. . .

The Captain and Fury’s agents came upon the scene of Hulk standing in agitation nearby as Iron Man performed CPR on Carrie. The Cube sat innocently near Selvig’s knee. The man was coming to, would be alright, but _Carrie_.

“Is she - ?” Captain started to ask.

“Her heart wasn’t able to take it.” Tony didn’t mince words and continued. Damn it – this wasn’t going to work. What the hell was taking Thor so long?

“What happened?” Selvig asked, pale and shaky. Hawkeye stepped over to him and spoke in low tones as Natasha watched everything stoically.

_Failure._

Thor came back ~~finally~~ and Tony snatched the Scepter from his hand before the god could step forward.

“What are you doing?” Captain asked. He had seen a lot of awful things in his fighting days – but the body of a child was never something a man got used to. It wasn’t right, it just shouldn’t happen.

“Carrie said that these things see her as a novelty.” Tony said, jaw set. “They can think.” He grabbed the Cube and kneeled by Carrie’s side.

“I doubt things as old as these are going to let go of new entertainment. I’m gonna convince them to invest.”

He had no idea what he was doing, but he held the tip of the Scepter and the Cube over each other on Carrie’s heart.

“C’mon. I know that you know what’s going on.” The billionaire growled. “Save her! You like Carrie enough, right? Do you want to lose a wild card like her so soon?” He paused and added painfully. “She’s a _kid_. Give her a chance. Let Carrie have one more go.”

One minute turned into two, and then three.

It was Hawkeye who spoke, no trace of sarcasm or snark, just defeat. “Stark.”

Tony shut his eyes and started to pull the two energies back.

Then there was a spark.

Everyone jumped as the Tesseract and Scepter sparked off one another and the lights sunk into the corpse. Color flushed back into Carrie’s face as she sat up like someone had smacked their hand against her back. She started coughing uncontrollably, Tony let the Tesseract and Cube drop to the ground as he grabbed Carrie’s shoulders to steady her.

“Holy shit, it _worked_.” Hawkeye said what everyone was thinking in disbelief. He laughed a bit, still stunned.

Captain America smiled at the sight, as Carrie looked around, still red in the face.

“W-what happened?” She asked.

“That’s an explanation for later.” Black Widow said, there was the barest hint of a smile on her face. “You did well though. Excellent.”

“Romanoff is right,” Captain America said, still smiling. “Although. . .”

He looked up at Stark Tower, everyone else following suit. The smile slipped off of the WWII veteran’s face.

“We have one more thing to do.”

* * *

Carrie ended up waiting in the lobby with Selvig and the Iron Man suit JARVIS was still controlling. JARVIS was finishing the first aid he hadn’t been able to complete on Selvig, who winced but bore the disinfectants with good grace. He felt normal now – there wasn’t a sense of double about him anymore, but Carrie was too tired to dwell on that.

Her whole body hurt. JARVIS had given the burned arm some smelly lotion meant to help – which it did. Her wrist would have to wait though, and the AI said that it was likely she would be on enforced bedrest for the foreseeable future.

She wasn’t happy about it, but there was no point arguing. Carrie _did_ need rest.

SHIELD agents arrived, including some pretty high ranked government officials. Carrie dozed in and out, coming back to full consciousness when something abruptly felt _wrong_.

She leaned against the wall and stood up. Selvig was gone, but JARVIS hadn’t left, and the AI calmly explained that the older man was being debriefed. Carrie looked around, and found her attention settle on Tony, who was arguing with a man she recognized as Alexander Pierce, Director Fury’s predecessor.

Something was wrong.

 ** _“Ms. White. Your stress levels are rising, please calm yourself.”_** JARVIS was at her shoulder. **_“What is wrong?”_**

“Tony.” Carrie muttered. “I don’t know what, but –“

Then he collapsed. It was a nightmarish replay of Carrie’s own brush with death not even an hour ago for Thor. Pierce caught Tony, shouting for a medic as the younger man’s teammates and AI rushed forward.

As everyone focused on Tony, Carrie realized that the Tesseract was moving away. She turned and saw a man dressed in SHIELD gear was moving toward the exit with a suitcase. Carrie went to follow, extending her powers to poke at his mind, not daring anything else – and was shocked.

Tony?

The thief had turned around and sure enough it was Tony. An aged Tony.

They both stared at each other for several seconds, not sure what to do. Carrie was so stunned she didn’t sense the Hulk arriving through the door this Tony had intended to take until it was too late. The green powerhouse slammed through the door, knocking older Tony across the floor.

People started screaming as Hulk angrily stated how he hated the stairs, Carrie checked on older Tony and saw that he was okay. He opened his eyes and looked up at her.

“God, I forgot how baby-faced you were.” He muttered, dazed.

“Tony? Why is there two of you?” Carrie whispered.

“The Tesseract? Where is it?” Older Tony started to sit up. “Sorry kiddo, I can’t –“

Carrie turned and her heart jumped into her throat.

The Tesseract was at Loki’s feet.

She didn’t even think and used her powers to throw herself forward as older Tony frantically said, “Nononono!”

Carrie crashed into Loki, ignoring the stab of pain in her chest and tried to pry the Cube from his hands as he opened a portal. Something else crashed into them and there was more yelling and screaming as she recognized the battered arm of JARVIS’ commandeered Iron Man suit.

They were too late. The portal swallowed them whole.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, I ended it at a cliffhanger. A bit evil but don't worry, the interquel will be coming soon. It won't be long, probably a chapter or two and then on to Book Two!. The name for it will likely be "Loki (Odinson) (Laufeyson) and Carrie(tta) White"


End file.
